The Crown season 5: Who is James Colthurst? Life and relationship with Princess Diana explored

The Crown season 5 premiered on November 9, 2022, on Netflix, bringing to light another intriguing chapter of the British Royal Family's history and politics.

This season is set in the tumultuous phase of the 1990s when a lot of things weren't going right for the royalty. With a set of new actors, the new season explored a series of events, both factual and fictional, in the years after the conclusion of the fourth season.

Despite the humungous history that the show needed to cover, The Crown has successfully woven an intricate web of characters spanning across decades and covered many less important characters who are not a part of the royalty.

One of the important characters first introduced in the fifth season of The Crown is James Colthurst.

James Colthurst was introduced in The Crown season 5 as the confidante of Princess Diana and her point of contact with the biographer, Andrew Morton.

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Is James Colthurst accurately depicted in The Crown season 5?

Dr. James Colthurst is an Irish-born medical professional who was a close friend of Princess Diana in the early 1990s. He was best known for being a confidante of the princess and her point of contact with biographer Andrew Morton, through whose book Dianna vented out her rage at the Royal family and its internal politics.

In the show, Colthurst is shown to have a brother-like affection for Princess Diana, which may be true but there is no official confirmation of the same.

Colthurst was born in Cork, Ireland in 1957, and belonged to a privileged family. His father was Sir Richard la Touche Colthurst, 9th Baronet and his mother was Janet Wilson-Wright. Charles St John Colthurst, Baronet, his brother, was the owner of Blarney Castle. Colthurst studied medicine in London and became a radiologist.

Diana met James Colthurst in 1979 on a ski holiday in Val Claret, where she worked as a nanny. This was two years before she married Prince Charles. Colthurst described their first meeting, saying:

"She knew several of the friends I was with, and they brought her back to our apartment when she twisted her ankle, telling her I would look at it....it was hard not to hit it off with Diana straight away."

According to friends, Diana and Colthurst had a rather playful relationship. They often engaged in pranks and were overall friendly. James Colthurst introduced Diana to Andrew Morton. He also helped her share her story without the royal family finding out, as depicted in The Crown.

Later, speaking about listening to the tapes, Colthurst said:

"All around everyone's eating bacon and eggs chatting away, and I put these headphones on and turn on the tape recorder and listen to Diana talking about bulimia nervosa, which I'd never heard of, talking about her suicide attempts, talking about this woman called Camilla Parker Bowles. It was like entering a parallel universe, I walked out of that café thinking, 'Wow what on Earth have I heard?"

James Colthurst has been married since 1990 and now resides in Berkshire. He has two children. According to reports, he is now the director of a medical firm.

The Crown season 5 is now streaming on Netflix.