‘The Crown’ Has Filmed Princess Diana’s Death

The Crown made sure to film the death of Princess Diana with “enormous sensitivity” as the Netflix show prepares to air its version of the royal’s fatal 1997 accident in the sixth and final season. Executive producers Andy Harries and Suzanne Mackie addressed tackling the controversial historical event during an Edinburgh TV Festival session, making sure to emphasize how thoughtful Left Bank Pictures and Netflix have been surrounding the issue. 

“The show might be big and noisy, but we’re not. We’re thoughtful people and we’re sensitive people. There were very careful, long conversations about how we were going to do it,” Mackie said, as per Deadline. “The audience will judge it in the end, but I think it’s been delicately, thoughtfully recreated. Elizabeth Debicki is an extraordinary actress and she was so thoughtful and considerate. She loved Diana. There’s a huge amount of respect from us all, I hope that’s evident.”

Queen Elizabeth II’s death will be addressed in the series finale, which Mackie said was a “love letter” to the late monarch from writer Peter Morgan, with Stephen Daldry stepping in to direct for the first time since Season 2 in 2017. “The passing of Her Majesty impacted on us all… It didn’t change [the story] fundamentally, but it did change it in a sense. When you see it, I think you will know what I mean,” Harries explained. “It’s a very powerful film and a very respectful episode.”

Prince Harry previously admitted to watching The Crown, sharing in February 2021 on The Late Late Show With James Corden what he really thought of the fictionalized version of his family’s history. “They don’t pretend to be news, it’s fictional. But it’s loosely based on the truth. Of course it’s not strictly accurate, but loosely,” he said. “It gives you a rough idea about what the lifestyle, what the pressures of putting duty and service above family and everything else, what can come from that.”

Harry continued, “I’m way more comfortable with The Crown than I am seeing the stories written about my family, or my wife, or myself. Because it’s the difference between – [The Crown] is obviously fiction, take it how you will – but [the tabloid stories] are being reported on as fact, because you’re supposedly news. I have a real issue with that.”