The True Story Behind Princess Diana's 'Uptown Girl' Performance on THE CROWN

The fourth season of the Netflix series The Crown has had fans buzzing about the accuracy of several scenes depicting performances from Princess Diana.

As BroadwayWorld previously reported, there is some truth to the scene that showed Diana performing All I Ask of You from The Phantom of the Opera, although many details of the actual performance are unknown.

Another scene in the series shows Diana performing Uptown Girl for a surprised opera audience, as well as her husband Prince Charles, along with dancer Wayne Sleep. It turns out this really happened, as well!

According to Elle, Diana approached professional dancer Sleep for lessons, which his schedule didn't allow for. However, this gave Diana the idea to dance during an annual performance for the Friends of Covent Garden held at the Royal Opera House.

"She rang me and said, 'I want to dance with you at Covent Garden this Christmas for the big Christmas gala party that they do as a thank you to all the supporters of the opera house,'" Sleep said on Celebrity Big Brother in 2018.

Sleep also talked to The Guardian about the performance in 2017.

"My first thought was, she's too tall to dance with me, I'll be a laughing stock: I'm 5ft 2in and she's 5ft 11in," he said. "But I soon realised she had a good sense of humour, and that we could have some fun with our height difference."

Hear Sleep discuss the performance in the 2017 CBS documentary Princess Diana: Her Life, Her Death, Her Truth, in the video:

The pair kept their rehearsals a secret from both Charles and the paparazzi. But what did Charles think when he finally saw the performance?

"It was a present which slightly backfired," said writer Richard Kay in an article for The Sun. "She did it as a tribute to Charles. Charles wasn't terribly impressed. He thought she was showing off."

Watch the trailer for season four of The Crown below!

The Crown is a historical drama streaming television series about the reign of Queen Elizabeth II. The show was created and principally written by Peter Morgan.

The fourth season spans 1977 to 1990 and includes Margaret Thatcher's tenure as prime minister and Lady Diana Spencer's marriage to Prince Charles.

New actors are being cast every two seasons. Claire Foy portrays the Queen in the first two seasons, alongside Matt Smith as Prince Philip and Vanessa Kirby as Princess Margaret. For the third and fourth seasons, Olivia Colman takes over as the Queen, Tobias Menzies as Prince Philip, and Helena Bonham Carter as Princess Margaret. Imelda Staunton, Jonathan Pryce, and Lesley Manville will succeed Colman, Menzies, and Bonham Carter, respectively, for the final two seasons.

The Crown has received critical acclaim, including accolades at the 23rd Screen Actors Guild Awards, won Best Actress for Foy in the lead role and Best Actor for John Lithgow as Winston Churchill, and has secured a total of 39 nominations for its first three seasons at the Primetime Emmy Awards, including three for Outstanding Drama Series. The series was nominated for Best Drama TV Series at the 77th Golden Globe Awards.