Olivia Williams, who plays the then Camilla Parker Bowles in the fifth series of The Crown, has described the drama’s depiction of Tampongate as ‘the absolute best scene’.
The actress, 54, who replaces Emerald Fennell as Camilla in the Netflix programme, says she believes the infamous scene has been well-handled.
She told the Sunday Times: ‘We had this amazing director, May el-Toukhy, and I think the writing and the way this episode is structured is so brilliant.’
Olivia, who stars alongside Dominic West who portrays Prince Charles, said people need to have a ‘sense of humour’ while watching the scene which shows Charles and Camilla ‘joking’ during their infamous ‘tampongate’ phone call.
Olivia Williams, who plays Camilla Parker Bowles in the fifth series of Netflix’s The Crown, revealed Tampongate is ‘the absolute best scene’
The actress, 54, who replaces Emerald Fennell as Camilla, admitted the infamous scene has been well handled
In real life, the phone call, in which Charles joked to his mistress about living inside her trousers as ‘God forbid, a Tampax’, was recorded in 1989, while the royal was still married to Diana, Princess of Wales.
However a transcript of the call, which was also referred to as ‘Camillagate’, only became public in 1992, the same year the Wales separated.
Now Olivia has urged people to watch the episode before making a judgement on the scene.
Speaking to the Times, she said: ‘I would like to make it illegal for anyone to comment upon the inclusion of this conversation who doesn’t actually watch the episode.
During the call, the then prince referred to being reincarnated as a Tampax tampon, and told Camilla that he wanted to ‘live inside’ her as they fantasised about being intimate with each other
The Duchess of Cornwall (left) spoke to Olivia (right) at the Man Booker Prize dinner and reception at The Guildhall in 2017
‘If you decide because your principles are so high that you’re not going to watch the episode and then you choose to comment, your opinion is of no value. What this episode does is an extraordinary piece of film-making.’
During the fifth episode of the drama, Charles is seen leaving a dinner with friends to call Camilla, who is shown as being at home with her family. Her husband Andrew picks up the phone, before handing it over to Camilla, who swiftly heads to the bedroom.
The pair flirt with one another, before it emerges a stranger has managed to listen in to their phone call through the radio.
The conversation begins with Charles telling Camilla about a speech he is planning to give, while the person listening in realises he is hearing royalty.
Filmed at length for the new series, the chat, which became known in the tabloids as ‘Tampongate’ (pictured), is intended to show affection between Charles and Camilla and attempt to garner viewer sympathy at the intrusion into their private lives
He immediately begins recording, and is shown growing agog with shock as the conversation continues.
He is then shown trying to sell the tapes around to newspapers, however, he struggles to find a buyer, because the editors think it will be too much of a risk to publish before the divorce between Charles and Diana is announced.
Years later, when the couple’s official separation is announced, a transcript of the conversation is printed in a newspaper.
The fallout is depicted in a sequence featuring scenes of the royal family’s reactions to the racy transcript, cut with clips of Camilla and Charles on the phone to each other during the steamy call.
Dominic West (left) and Olivia Williams (right) play Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles in the fifth season of The Crown
The phone call, in which Charles joked to his mistress about living inside her trousers as ‘God forbid, a Tampax’, was recorded in 1989 when the Prince and Princess of Wales were still married (pictured in The Crown season five)
During the call, they become more breathy as Camilla tells Charles: ‘You’re awfully good at feeling your way along.’
Meanwhile Charles tells her: ‘Oh stop! I want to feel my way along you, all over you and up and down you and in and out…’
The couple go on to discuss how they can’t start the week without each other, with Charles saying: ‘I fill up your tank…then you can cope….The trouble is I need you several times a week.’
During the call, the then prince referred to being reincarnated as the tampon brand Tampax, and told Camilla that he wanted to ‘live inside’ her as they fantasised about being intimate with each other.
It caused huge embarrassment to the Royal Family as it included details of how the prince had told his lover that he wanted to be her ‘tampon’.
The audio recording along with a transcript of the six-minute call was sold to a tabloid and published.
It was circulated again in 1993 by The People, following the separation of Charles and Princess Diana.
When discussing how much they ‘need’ each other, Charles said during the 1989 conversation: ‘Oh, God. I’ll just live inside your trousers or something. It would be much easier!’
A laughing Camilla replied: ‘What are you going to turn into, a pair of knickers? (Both laugh). Oh, you’re going to come back as a pair of knickers.’
Charles said: ‘Or, God forbid, a Tampax. Just my luck!’ to which Camilla responded: ‘You are a complete idiot! Oh, what a wonderful idea,’ reported Esquire.
Charles made the call to Camilla, who was at her home in Wiltshire, on a mobile phone, not a landline as is portrayed in the programme.
While much of the depiction of the scene is true, as in other parts of the drama, the filmmakers have taken some liberties with the phrases used within the call.
It appears the filmmakers have abbreviated some parts of the conversation – but on the whole, it is similar to what the couple said.
It isn’t known how the royal family reacted to the scandal individually, however it was reported at the time to have sent shock waves through The Firm.
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