Who is Porchey in The Crown and who was he in real life?

Since watching the final instalment of The Crown, some royal fans want to know a little more about Porchey in The Crown, the Queen's close confidant in the series. So who was he in real life? 

In The Crown, season 6 part 2, Queen Elizabeth II discovered that her close friend Porchey had died after suffering from a heart attack on September 11th 2001, the same day as the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York City. In the series, the Queen tells Princess Margaret, "He collapsed watching the news. Heart attack. Poor Jean." 

The character Porchey was also shown escorting a young Princess Margaret and Princess Elizabeth on a wild night out in London at the end of WW2. But is this true and who exactly was Porchey? Here's what you need to know...

Porchey was a character who appeared in several seasons of The Crown and was portrayed by various actors including, Joseph Kloska and John Hollingworth. The Netflix series portrays Porchey as a close confidant of the Queen who worked as her racing manager and assisted her on all things horse-related.

In real life this is entirely true, Porchey is a nickname short for the courtesy title, Lord Porchester, and his full name was, Henry George Reginald Molyneux Herbert, 7th Earl of Carnarvon. He was the Queen's close friend and racing manager from 1969 until his death in 2001.

He and Queen Elizabeth had a close friendship and were snapped attending various racing events together. In the show, it was also suggested that he joined Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret's wild incognito night out along with Peter Townsend to celebrate VE day in London. While it's unclear if  that aspect of the show is true, the Queen and Princess Margaret's enduring friendship with Porchey was accurately portrayed in the show

Porchey was 77 when he died on 11th September 2001, it was reported that he suffered from a myocardial infarction, commonly known as a heart attack. It is true that he was watching the news about the terrorist attacks in New York earlier in the day, but it of course is unclear if the two events were related and the shock of the attacks was the final straw for the Queen's loyal friend. 

Porchey was survived by his wife Jean - who was also referenced in the show, and their three children, George, Henry and Carolyn.

In a sweet twist, the man who replaced Porchey as the Queen's racing manager was John Warren, a former stable boy who worked at the Highclere Stud at Highclere House (Porchey's family estate) and married Porchey's daughter Carolyn.

Another interesting fact is that Porchey's family estate, Highclere Castle, is better known as the fictional Downton Abbey as it has been used for many years as the faux home of the Crawley family in the much-loved drama TV show.