The Crown EPs Promise Diana’s Death Will Be Handled ‘Delicately’ and With ‘Enormous Sensitivity’ in Final Season
A devastating tragedy is brewing on The Crown, and the show’s executive producers are keenly aware of that fact.
Netflix’s Emmy-winning royal drama returns for its sixth and final season later this year, and Season 6 will feature the death of Princess Diana, who passed away in a car crash in 1997. It was a heartbreaking moment in history for the royal family, the British people and the world at large, and EP Suzanne Mackie says she and her fellow producers wanted to make sure they did justice to Diana’s memory.
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“There were very careful, long conversations about how we were going to do it,” Mackie said during a Edinburgh TV Festival panel, per our sister site Deadline, adding that they approached the subject with “enormous sensitivity.” She noted that “the audience will judge it in the end, but I think it’s been delicately, thoughtfully recreated.”
Cast member Elizabeth Debicki, who debuted as Diana in Season 5 and plays the role again in Season 6, “is an extraordinary actress, and she was so thoughtful and considerate,” Mackie recalled. “She loved Diana. There’s a huge amount of respect from us all. I hope that’s evident.”
Although Diana’s shocking death will be a plot point in Season 6, The Crown won’t actually show the car crash that killed her on-screen. Netflix confirmed this last year, saying that the series “will not depict the crash, contrary to some reports” and adding that instead, “it will be scenes covering the lead-up to, and [the] aftermath.”
Season 6 will cover Queen Elizabeth II’s reign and the lives of the royal family from the mid-1990s (where Season 5 left off) through the 2000s, including the budding romance between Charles and Diana’s son Prince William and Kate Middleton. Ed McVey takes over the role of Prince William as he goes off to university, with Meg Bellamy playing his future wife Kate. (Check out first-look photos of William and Kate’s courtship here.)
Imelda Staunton returns for the final season as Queen Elizabeth, with Jonathan Pryce as Prince Philip, Lesley Manville as Princess Margaret, Dominic West as Prince Charles and Debicki as Princess Diana. Got thoughts on how The Crown should handle Diana’s death? Share them in the comments below.
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