‘The Crown:’ Did Queen Elizabeth Have An Affair With Lord ‘Porchie’ Porchester?

“The Crown” episode 9 featured one of the most intense moments in the series when Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip almost ended their marriage because of the Queen’s good friend, Lord Porchester. The events in the episode made viewers wonder if Queen Elizabeth really had an affair with Porchester after all.

It’s no secret that Queen Elizabeth loves horses. Back in the days, she had a racing manager whom she fondly called Porchie. He was a dear friend to the Queen and was as passionate about horses as Queen Elizabeth was.

Because of their close friendship, there were times when Queen Elizabeth seemed far more compatible with Lord Porchester than her own husband, Prince Philip. But while Porchie was portrayed as someone who got in the way of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip’s marriage in “The Crown,” the Palace once said that the gossips linking Queen Elizabeth to Porchie were not true.

Rumors about Queen Elizabeth and Lord Porchester surfaced during the early years of the Queen’s marriage to Prince Philip. Some people created rumors about the true nature of their relationship, but Queen Elizabeth maintained that they were nothing more than just friends.

Even Porchie denied the claims, too, just as he did in “The Crown.” In the show, he said that there was only Prince Philip in Queen Elizabeth’s life.

Queen Elizabeth and Lord Porchester were able to prove that they were just friends when Porchie got engaged to an Anglo-American woman named Jean Margaret Wallop. It turned out that Porchie had a woman in his life, and he married her on Jan. 7, 1956.

Lord Porchester and his wife had three children throughout their marriage, including the Earl of Carnarvon, George Reginald Oliver Molyneux Herbert. Queen Elizabeth and Porchie were able to maintain their close friendship even after his wedding. In fact, Porchie and his wife invited the Queen to attend Herbert’s christening years after their wedding.

After Lord Porchester’s death on Sept. 11, 2011, his son-in-law, John Warren, became Queen Elizabeth’s new racing manager. Warren is still the Queen’s racing manager to this day.

Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth’s marriage has been through ups and downs through all the years that they have been together. However, the fact that they’re still together today only proves that they were able to rise above all the challenges that came their way.