The Crown writer resigns over 'disrespectful' portrayal of Princess Diana

Emma Corrin starred as a young Princess Diana in season four of The Crown. Photo / Netflix

Screenwriter Jemima Khan has revealed that she chose to pull out of working on The Crown because of its "disrespectful" portrayal of the late Princess Diana's final years.

The 47-year-old screenwriter claims she was asked to come on board to help creator Peter Morgan - with whom she briefly dated until February this year - with scripts covering the time before her friend died in a Paris car crash in 1997, but she has now withdrawn from the project and asked for her contributions to be removed.

Khan had never spoken publicly about her friendship with Diana but was keen to help give an "accurate" version of events.

She said: "It was really important to me that the final years of my friend's life be portrayed accurately and with compassion, as has not always happened in the past".

Jemima Khan claims The Crown did not want to depict Diana's (played by Elizabeth Debicki in season 5) final days as "respectfully or compassionately" as she had hoped. Photo / Netflix

Khan reportedly worked on outlines for scripts about Diana's relationship with Dodi Fayed - who died in the same crash - and her infamous Panorama interview, but she ultimately felt Netflix didn't want to deal with the princess' story as "respectfully or compassionately" as she had hoped.

She said: "We worked together on the outline and scripts from September 2020 until February 2021.

"When our co-writing agreement was not honoured, and when I realised that particular storyline would not necessarily be told as respectfully or compassionately as I had hoped, I requested that all my contributions be removed from the series and I declined a credit."

A spokesperson for the show insisted Khan had "never been contracted" as a writer on the programme, but had merely helped producers with their research.

They told the Sunday Times newspaper: "Jemima Khan has been a friend, fan and a vocal public supporter of The Crown since season one.

"She has been part of a wide network of well-informed and varied sources who have provided extensive background information to our writers and research team — providing context for the drama that is The Crown. She has never been contracted as a writer on the series."