The Crown has returned for its fifth season on Netflix this week and has now moved into historical territory concerning the end of the marriage between Diana and Charles.

As with the previous seasons, there are questions on if storylines and scenes in the show actually hold any truth to them, or if they have been created for dramatic effect.

One such scene has come in the first episode and concerns the Queen's yacht HMY Britannia.

In it, the Queen (Imelda Staunton) states to Prime Minister John Major (Jonny Lee Miller) that her royal subjects will foot the bill for a proposed refurbishment of the vessel.

However, was this actually true, especially considering the refurbishment would have gone into the millions in cost?

Did the Queen make the British public foot the bill for HMY Britannia?

The concept of a royal yacht had first been floated by Charles II and by the time Elizabeth II was monarch she got a quite luxurious vessel in HMY Britannia.

It was 126 metres in length, could host up to 250 guests and be staffed by 250 Royal Yachtsmen alongside 21 Royal Navy officers.

HMY Britannia's maiden voyage was carried out in 1954 from Portsmouth to Malta and stayed in service until 1997.

In total it made 696 foreign visits and 272 visits in British waters, travelling over a million nautical miles.

READ MORE: 5 facts about Balmoral Castle as estate features on new season of The Crown 

By the time it got to the 1990s the vessel was in need of refurbishment and this is when the scene from The Crown comes into play.

According to Esquire, it is unlikely that the meeting between the Queen and John Major took place concerning on if the public should foot the bill for the yacht.

A few years later Major went on to announce the yacht would be retired, which it eventually was in 1997.

Nowadays the yacht is a tourist attraction moored in Edinburgh and run by the Royal Yacht Britannia Trust.

All five seasons of The Crown are available to watch on Netflix right now