The
Crown isn’t really a show known for gruesome deaths; instead, it is something
esoteric, mostly confined to the inner circle of the British monarchy, death by
cold glares and scornful remarks are perhaps the most acceptable way to go for
Royal depiction.

However,
in the new season, that changes dramatically, with the violence and
uneasiness running uncontrollable in the Queen’s world and finally crawling its
way back to the palace.

The
latest season of The Crown addresses the most shocking events in the Royal
family.

The
Crown’s season four takes the British drama to the era of 1977, when Queen
Elizabeth II celebrates her 25^th year on the throne and Princess
Diana arrives to the Royal family.

For
those who have already started binging the show, you may have met with the
character of Lord Mountbatten The Crown played by Charles Dance.

Lord Mountbatten Assassination & Why Was Lord Mountbatten Assassinated?

SPOILER
ALERT: Well, by the end of episode one, the series fast forwarded a few years
to 1979 when Louis Mountbatten was assassinated. Also, if you’re not aware, the
character is non-fiction who perished in real life too.

Show
creator Peter Morgan has been known to include many historical references, but
did Lord Mountbatten die the same way as it has been portrayed in the series?

Well,
not exactly! Let us tell you how!

In the
Season four premiere, Lord Louis Mountbatten, informally known to the Royals as
“Uncle Dickie,” is killed from injuries suffered in a bomb explosion on his
private boat in Mullaghmore, County Sligo, in August 1979.

The
sudden demise causes the Royals staggering- and reflects The Troubles, a
years-old ethno-nationalist conflict, reflected only briefly in The Crown.

Who
was Lord Louis Mountbatten? 

Born in
1900, he was a high-ranking British naval officer who also served during World
War II. Later, Lord Mountbatten became the last Viceroy of India, as he was
assigned to assure smooth British’s exit from an emerging independent
India. 

He was
the brother of Princess Alice and the uncle of Phillip, and also the one who
introduced the Prince to his future wife, a young Elizabeth II, years before
she was crowned the Queen of England. 

Mountbatten
served as a surrogate father to his nephew, Prince Philip, but it was Prince
Charles who had been widely influenced by his mentorship and guidance, acting
as the confidante to the future kind. Prince Charles was greatly inspired by
Lord Mountbatten’s tenure in the Naval Army, so he decided to join the Royal
Air Force, where he served for six active years. 

Although
Lord Mountbatten was a great uncle to Prince Charles, one of the Lord Mountbatten grandchildren  as per Lord Mountbatten family tree, he preferred to call him
affectionately as his “honorary grandfather.” He also used to advise the young
prince about everything from kingship to romantic affairs. He once said about
his grandfather, “I admire him almost more than anybody else I know.”

Source:
History.com

So far
in season 3, we have seen how Mountbatten interfered in Prince Charles’ love
affairs, inhibiting his union with Camilla Parker Bowles, of course with the
help of Queen Mother. 

Mountbatten
was explicitly opinionated about Prince Charles’ romantic life, writing to the Prince
in a letter, “I believe, in a case like
yours, the man should sow his wild oats and have as many affairs as he can
before settling down, but for a wife he should choose a suitable, attractive,
and sweet-charmed girl before she met anyone else she might fall for.”

Mountbatten
also used to advise Prince Charles to find a partner that has “no past,”
because apparently high-profile ex-lovers could create tabloid scandals that
could harm the Royal image. 

In the
first episode of season four, Prince Charles received a letter from
Mountbatten, in which he literally scolds the young prince for failing to adopt
the virtues needed of the future King of England. In other words, he tried to
brainwash him, imploring that his childish fling with Parker Bowles is the
biggest inhibitor of him becoming a true future King, and he encouraged him to
find a better match:

“Must
I remind you again of the importance of building your destiny with some sweet,
innocent, well-tempered girl with no past, who knows the rules and will follow
the rules? Someone with whom you can make a fresh start and build a new life.
Someone that people will love as a princess, and, in due course, as queen. This
is your duty now-your most important task. You’re more than a man, more than a
prince. One day, dear boy, you shall be King. And now, to the sea.” 

How
was Mountbatten killed?

When
Prince Charles almost reached the end of his bachelor years, Mountbatten was
killed at his private ship in a violent act of terrorism. Mountbatten used to
vacation every year with his family at Classie Baw in Mullaghmore, County
Sligo, just 12 miles away from the Northern Ireland border. 

On one
ill-fated day on August 27th 1979, Lord Mountbatten took a boat to go fishing
with his daughter, son-in-law, and two twin grandsons, including several other
family members and a young crew member. Just a night before, one member of the
IRA Thomas McMahon snuck into his ship and planted a 50 pound radio-controlled
bomb, which was then detonated when the ship sailed.

Mountbatten
was killed, as were his 14-year old grandsons, Nicholas Knatchbull and
Knatchbull’s grandmother, the 83-year-old Dowager Lady Brabourne, who succumbed
to her injuries and died the following day. Lady Brabourne’s death isn’t shown
in the series though.

Also,
it has not been portrayed that Lord Mountbatten initially survived the attack;
he was rescued from the wreckage alive, but died along the way he reached to
shore. 

Paul
Maxwell, the teenage crew member on the boat, was also killed in the
bombing. 

Did
anyone survive?

Mountbatten’s
grandson, Timothy Knatchbull survived the blast, but his twin brother died in
the impact. A BBC documentary, The Day Mountbatten Died, showed a rescue
helicopter crew member who pulled the young Knatchbull out of the water and
said that he sees the boy face “over and over.”

Prince
Charles was the one shown as being particularly affected by this event in the Netflix drama. In a
scene after the bombing, he reads a letter from his grandfather who was shown
writing it days after his death unlike the real history.

The
timing of this letter is purely cinematic, though it did drive Prince Charles
directly towards Princess Diana.