ALISON BOSHOFF: Intimacy coach joins The Crown for drama’s Dodi sex scenes

The ups and downs of various royal love affairs take center stage in The Crown’s upcoming series – and I’m told the makers have hired an “intimacy coordinator” to help with sex scenes, in a first for the prestigious Netflix drama.

David Thackeray, a leading figure who has worked on candid content for the It’s A Sin, Heartstopper and Sex Education series, is credited with series five of the show, which kicks off in November. Sources indicate that he was asked to assist actors while filming a screenshot of sex scenes with Dodi Fayed, played by actor Khalid Abdalla.

Princess Diana’s romance with Fayed is shown, beginning with her friendship with Fayed’s father Mohamed, the owner of Harrods and the Paris Ritz. Dodi Fayed died with her in the Paris car accident in August 1997.

However, it is cardiac surgeon Hasnat Khan who is portrayed in the series as the love of her life. Khan, who called Diana ‘Mr Wonderful’, was in a relationship with the late Princess between 1995 and 1997.

There is a new cast for series five and Diana is played by Australian actress Elizabeth Debicki.

At six feet tall, Debicki is definitely Diana’s height (and then some), but she also captures her voice, moves and mannerisms perfectly. Her performance is perhaps even more remarkable than Emma Corrin’s acclaimed portrayal of the young princess in Series 4.

Diana, Princess of Wales, and her companion Dodi Fayed walking on a pontoon in the seaside town of St. Tropez on the French Riviera in August 1997

Hasnat Khan is played by Pakistani star Humayun Saeed.

Imelda Staunton plays the Queen and Lesley Manville is Princess Margaret. Jonny Lee Miller of Trainspotting makes a surprisingly good John Major.

The series begins by investigating Prince Philip’s alleged relationship with his carriage driver Penny Knatchbull, and the fire at Windsor Castle in 1992 – the year the Queen became known as her annus horribilis. It will end with the broadcast of Diana’s infamous Panorama interview in 1995.

The embarrassment of the infamous ‘tampongate’ in which Prince Charles was recorded chatting with mistress Camilla Parker Bowles is on display, as is a depiction of the Queen’s response to the toe-sucking scandal that led to the end of Prince Andrew’s marriage with Fergie.

Dodi Fayed died in the same car accident that killed Princess Diana in Paris in 1997

All in all, it’s sure to disappoint some royal guards.

Meanwhile, series six of The Crown is currently being filmed and will conclude with the Queen’s Golden Jubilee in 2002, as the monarch mourns the deaths of her mother and sister, but has re-established herself in the public’s affections after the famous family scandals. and Diana’s death.

Writer Peter Morgan and his team have gone to great lengths to balance the demands of drama with the controversy over portraying recent history. I have been told that he has found the experience of revisiting the most recent past “tacky” and will certainly not continue in the present time.

However, he is considering plans to make a series or series of films, going back further in time, starting with the death of Queen Victoria. I wonder if she’ll like it.