The Crown’s Emma Corrin opens up about depicting Princess Diana’s eating disorder in Netflix drama

Emma Corrin, who plays Princess Diana in series four of The Crown, has revealed she asked scriptwriters to include graphic scenes relating to the late royal’s eating disorder.

• The Crown will depict Princess Diana's battle with bulimia in its upcoming fourth series.
• Actor Emma Corrin, who plays Diana in the Netflix drama, said she asked scriptwriters to include graphic scenes of Diana's eating disorder.
• This royal news comes after Princess Diana's brother shared a rare childhood photo of her.

The 24-year-old actor admitted it felt important to include scenes of Diana vomiting so that the subject was handled in an "honest way".

Speaking to Radio Times, Emma said, "We'd been working on her body language and we put together a document that we sent to the script team and said, "Can you include some of this in the writing because we'd love to really flesh out those scenes?

"I felt that if we were trying to depict bulimia in an honest way, we had to actually show it – otherwise it's a disservice to anyone who has been through that."

Speaking on tapes used for Andrew Morton’s book, Diana: Her Own Story, the princess opened up about her experiences with bulimia. 

Diana said, "The bulimia started a week after [Charles and I] got engaged (and would take nearly a decade to overcome). My husband put his hand on my waistline and said, “Oh, a bit chubby here, aren’t we?” And that triggered something in me."

She also explained how bulimia was an "escape mechanism", adding, "I didn’t like myself. I was ashamed I couldn’t cope with the pressures. I had bulimia for a number of years, and that’s like a secret disease. It’s a repetitive pattern which is very destructive. It was my escape mechanism.’"

A spokesperson for Netflix told Radio Times, ‘The Crown producers worked closely with the eating disorder charity, BEAT, to ensure that their portrayal of Princess Diana's bulimia was both accurate to the disorder and sensitively handled.’

Fans can look forward to a further focus on Diana and her royal life in season 5 of The Crown expected in 2022.