The Crown’s Emma Corrin was originally hired to help audition stars for Camilla Parker Bowles role

The Crown’s Emma Corrin was originally hired by the production team to help audition actresses vying to portray Camilla Parker Bowles, it has been revealed.

Emma, 25, has won acclaimed for her portrayal of the late Princess Diana in season four of the hit Netflix drama, but casting directors didn’t originally see her as the person for the role until they watched her play against auditioning actresses. 

Emmy-winning casting director Robert Sterne has revealed to Elle that the tense lunch between Princess Diana and Emerald Fennell’s Camilla was used as an audition scene for the latter role, with Emma only serving as a stand-in reader as Diana. 

Sterne explained: ‘I usually read in all these meetings, but we decided because it was this major scene that we would get somebody to come in [for Diana]. We asked Emma to come in, not thinking about casting Diana at this point.

‘But as she was reading with these Camillas, all the directors and the showrunner were looking more at her and not at the people playing Camilla—who will remain nameless, of course.

‘When we got to thinking about Diana a year later, there she was in my notes.’

The revelation comes after Kent-born Emma said she ‘understands’ calls by the Culture Secretary to include a disclaimer on the newest series. 

The actress insisted the series doesn’t require a warning as fans are aware the drama is ‘very clearly’ a ‘dramatised version of events.’ 

It comes following calls from Oliver Dowden to state that The Crown is clearly a work of fiction, but Netflix has insisted the series is billed as a drama meaning a disclaimer isn’t needed.   

Emma spoke out on the disclaimer row in an interview with Variety for their iHeart Radio podcast The Big Ticket, saying: ‘It is very clearly a dramatised version of events.’

The actress echoed her co-star Josh O’Connor’s claims that viewers are well aware the series is a work of fiction.

She added: ‘This is fictitious in the same way people don’t mistake Succession for what actually happened with the Murdochs.

‘I also understand [the request] comes from a place of sensitivity and protectiveness of the Royal Family and Diana.’

Emma made her debut in The Crown’s fourth series, playing a younger version of Princess Diana, as the show documented her turbulent marriage to Prince Charles.

Earlier this month, her co-star Josh blasted the Culture Secretary’s ‘outrageous’ comments that a disclaimer should be added, claiming he feels ‘let down’ by the government.

He told the Los Angeles Times’ The Envelope podcast: ‘We were slightly let down by our culture secretary, whose job it is to encourage culture.

‘In my opinion, it’s pretty outrageous that he came out and said what he said. Particularly in this time when he knows that the arts are struggling and they’re on their knees, I think it’s a bit of a low blow.

The actor said viewers are aware The Crown is a work of fiction. ‘My personal view is that audiences understand,’ he added.

‘You have to show them the respect and understand that they’re intelligent enough to see it for what it is, which is pure fiction.’

Previously, Netflix said it had ‘no plans – and sees no need’ to add a disclaimer, following claims they hadn’t done enough to make it clear The Crown was fiction.

But Culture Secretary Dowden told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: ‘Well first of all the actor, and by the way there’s a range of views expressed by different actors on The Crown which you will have seen, it’s worth nothing that he got his first break at The Old Vic which has got £600,000 in grants as part of the cultural recovery fund.

‘But the point I’m making and I stand by is that if your viewers are watching a show on the BBC or ITV, they can see at the beginning if it says that it’s historical fiction, it will say at the beginning ”this is a work of fiction based on fact”, and it’s a clear warning.

‘All I was saying in relation to The Crown is they should do the same thing. I have great affection for The Crown, it’s produced in my constituency, it’s beautifully produced, but I think it’s perfectly reasonable to put that warning on.

‘Otherwise I fear particularly for a generation that didn’t live through the events we’re now seeing in series four, they could mistake it for fact, and we accept that risk elsewhere and put the warning on and I think the same should apply to Netflix.’ 

Helena Bonham Carter, who portrayed Princess Margaret in seasons three and four, previously said the show has a ‘moral responsibility’ to make it clear to viewers it is a drama and not historical fact.

In an interview recorded for The Crown’s official podcast after filming on season four finished earlier this year, Helena, 54, discussed the differences between ‘our version’ and the ‘real version.’

Creator of The Crown, Peter Morgan, had previously appeared on the show’s official podcast to defend his right to creative licence.

However, Earl Spencer, Diana’s brother, has indicated his support for a disclaimer being added.

He previously told ITV’s Lorraine: ‘I think it would help The Crown an enormous amount if, at the beginning of each episode, it stated that: ‘This isn’t true but it is based around some real events’.’

He added: ‘I worry people do think that this is gospel and that’s unfair.’