Episode three, "Mou Mou," dives into the rise of businessman Mohamed Al-Fayed, known for owning The Ritz Hotel and Harrods, and for restoring the Windsor Villa in the 1980s. But another important storyline parallels Fayed's journey. Sydney Johnson, a treasured royal staff member who worked for the Duke of Windsor for over 30 years, is seen in the episode working as a waiter at the Ritz when Al-Fayed lets him go, only to have him work alongside him to teach him everything about British etiquette and culture.
In real life, Al-Fayed did hire Johnson as his personal butler, but the two grew closer when the businessman took over the duke's Bois de Boulogne mansion after the duchess, Wallis Simpson, died in 1984, according to People. Al-Fayed, obsessed with Britain, pledged to restore the dilapidated mansion to its original state, and Johnson, who had decades of firsthand experiences in the home, was right beside him for the job. When Johnson died in 1991, Al-Fayed told the Associated Press that he "was truly a gentlemen's gentleman. We shall miss him very much.″