Princess Diana’s Private Secretary Is a Consultant for ‘The Crown,’ Here’s What He Told Emma Corrin About Diana

Princess Diana’s former private secretary Patrick Jephson is opening up about his experience working for the late princess—and the subsequent advice he gave to The Crown star Emma Corrin.

On the latest episode of the Royally Obsessed podcast, co-hosts Roberta Fiorito and Rachel Bowie had an exclusive chat with Jephson, who serves as a royal consultant on The Crown. “I work with The Crown team, and I will say they’re very impressive,” he told the co-hosts.

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Jephson shared details about the advice he gave to Corrin, who portrayed Princess Diana in The Crown season four. “I spent some time with Emma Corrin discussing what sort of person Diana was,” he said. “And the thing that I stressed to her was that although Diana in many respects was a tragic figure, if you worked for her or spent any time around her, you spent a lot of time laughing.”

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“She had a wonderful, natural joie de vivre,” he continued. “She wanted to be happy. Her natural state was optimistic, and she could see the funny side of the toughest day.”

Jephson went on to say that Princess Diana “could laugh at herself” no matter the situation. “She had this extraordinary ability to lead from the heart,” he added. “You know, leading from the heart is not something that comes naturally to a lot of people. I find it rather stressful. But ordinary people could see that she was guided by her heart. Her emotional connections that she made with people were extraordinarily authentic.”

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You are very missed, Princess Diana.

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