In The Crown, when Princess Diana and Dodi Al Fayed make their fateful stop in Paris on their way home to London, Princess Diana has a member of Dodi's team run out to buy a birthday present for her youngest, Prince Harry. The drama shows Diana wrapping a PlayStation in Eiffel Tower wrapping paper, and writing a note, "Happy Birthday Harry, Love, Mummy." It was August 30, 1997 and Harry's 13th birthday was on September 15, 1997.
Did Princess Diana really get Harry a PlayStation in Paris? Even Harry himself doesn't know the answer, but he does remember getting a video game console from his aunt, that she said Diana had gotten in Paris, on his birthday.
Writing in his memoir, Spare, Prince Harry details his return to Ludgrove School shortly following his mother's death. "Days after my return I had a birthday. September 15, 1997. I turned thirteen," he writes. "By long-standing Ludgrove tradition there would be a cake, sorbet, and I was allowed to choose two flavors. I chose black currant. And mango. Mummy’s favorite. Birthdays were always a huge deal at Ludgrove, because every boy, and most teachers, had a ravenous sweet tooth. There was often a violent struggle for the seat next to the birthday boy: that’s where you’d be assured of the first and biggest slice."
He continues, "Then, out of nowhere— Aunt Sarah? Holding a box. Open it, Harry. I tore at the wrapping paper, the ribbon. I peered inside. What…? Mummy bought it for you. Shortly before… You mean in Paris? Yes. Paris. It was an Xbox. I was pleased. I loved video games. That’s the story, anyway. It’s appeared in many accounts of my life, as gospel, and I have no idea if it’s true. Pa said Mummy hurt her head, but perhaps I was the one with brain damage? As a defense mechanism, most likely, my memory was no longer recording things quite as it once did."
Shortly after his memoir came out, the tabloids quickly took issue with this passage, stating Xbox wouldn't have been on the market for more four years, so it was impossible. However, it is possible that Lady Sarah McCorquodale, Diana's sister, could have passed along a birthday gift from her late sister, and a PlayStation isn't outside the realm of possibilities—especially if Harry remembers getting a video game console from his mother.
The Crown's creator Peter Morgan said he didn't read Spare before working on the final season. "I’ve not read a word of it. Not that I wouldn’t be interested," he told Variety. "But I didn’t want his voice to inhabit my thinking too much. I’ve got a lot of sympathy with him, a lot of sympathy. But I didn’t want to read his book."
Emily Burack (she/her) is the Senior News Editor for Town & Country, where she covers entertainment, culture, the royals, and a range of other subjects. Before joining T&C, she was the deputy managing editor at Hey Alma, a Jewish culture site. Follow her @emburack on Twitter and Instagram.
