Princess Diana’s biographer Andrew Morton has claimed that the upcoming series of The Crown will “fuel the final rift of loss” across the royal family.
The final part of the Peter Morgan biography, which will be released on Netflix on Thursday, will dramatize the weeks leading up to the death of the late Princess of Wales and the struggles within the royal family.
Speaking in the Radio Times this week, Mr Morton, who wrote Diana’s “unauthorised, authorized biography” five years before her death, said the “wild” series would reopen closed wounds.
“For many of us who lived through those dramatic days, it will stir up the solid mud of memory and loss.” For this reason, the Crown team has taken great pains to emphasize how sensitively it deals with the princess’s untimely death was bypassed,” he wrote.
He also recalled finding out that the then-Princess of Wales had died
Princess Diana’s biographer Andrew Morton has claimed that the upcoming series of The Crown will “inflame the royal’s already established loss”. She is pictured in 1997
Elizabeth Debicki as Diana with her sons. Netflix releases first images from part 1 of the final series of The Crown
Andrew Morton writes in this week’s edition of the Radio Times
“Like millions of people around the world, I remember that fateful day vividly.” I was visiting friends for the Edinburgh Festival and was woken up by my host with the news. In disbelief at first, but as it slowly dawned on me, I booked the last seat on the morning flight to London.
“During the journey, a Frenchman came by and handed me a note that said: “I would like to apologize on behalf of the French nation.” At that time, the French paparazzi were blamed for the accident, not a drunk driver.”
The emotional first four episodes cover the tragic car accident in Paris in which Princess Diana died in August 1997 – along with her lover Dodi Fayed and her chauffeur Henri Paul – and the royal family’s reaction to it, as well as Diana and Dodi’s summer vacation enjoyed in St. Tropez before the tragedy.
The Paris scenes were filmed in the French capital, while a yacht was hired for the St. Tropez scenes, although these were actually filmed in Mallorca.
For reasons of sensitivity, the exact moment of Diana’s death is not recreated, but there are controversial scenes in which Charles converses tenderly with an imaginary Diana in the cabin of the royal plane as he accompanies her body from Paris to London, and later, as she also appears to the queen.
Critics who saw these scenes called them “ridiculous” because they depicted Diana as a ghost, but series creator Peter Morgan insisted that was not the intention.
“I never imagined it as Diana’s ghost in the traditional sense,” he told Variety magazine. “She continued to live vividly in the minds of those she left behind.”
“The Crown” was created by Morgan after the success of his 2006 film “The Queen,” about the royal family’s reaction to Diana’s death.
William, Harry and Charles at Princess Diana’s funeral in 1997
Princess Diana (Elizabeth Debicki), Prince Charles (Dominic West) and the Queen (Imelda Staunton) appear in the “House Divided” posters for the fifth season of the controversial Netflix drama “The Crown.”
And the series — which has received 21 Emmys and dozens of BAFTA nominations, not to mention some criticism for its historical inaccuracies — covers the same ground but uses new information gathered in the 17 years since the Oscar-winning film was made became.
In fact, the scripts had to be constantly updated as the royal family was in headlines throughout filming, not only after the Queen’s death but also after the publication of Prince Harry’s memoir Spare.
“I assumed that Charles would be an emotional and outgoing guy, despite his buttoned-up appearance that he has to wear in public,” Dominic West, who plays the then-prince, told Weekend Magazine.
“But when Harry wrote his book and said he never hugged him or anything, we had to change that a bit.”
Pictures show Diana being chased by paparazzi shortly before her death
There is also an insight into her love life with Dodi
Charles appears to be panicking after Diana’s death in the crown
Another shows the princess appearing to the queen as a ghost
The first few episodes were particularly tough for the entire cast, as Diana’s final days were re-enacted with her new love Dodi aboard his father’s yacht.
At the end of season five we met US model Kelly Fisher, who Dodi was dating when he started dating Diana.
While he courted the princess on a family yacht, Jonikal, Kelly was left alone on another boat. She later claimed they were engaged.
For Elizabeth Debicki, who plays Diana, filming these scenes was a huge challenge. “Even though I had a physical break beforehand, I was probably always thinking about what was to come,” she says.
“We see her going on holiday with the boys to St. Tropez and then on to Paris.” A lot of it was actually a good time.
“We were in a very beautiful part of the world, so I was constantly taking that in and trying to kind of relax, knowing what was coming.”
The story then begins in Balmoral, where the family must come to terms with the devastating news.
For Jonathan Pryce, who plays Prince Philip, filming the scenes brought back emotional memories of Diana’s death.
“I remember turning on the radio and hearing something about Diana and Paris and thinking, ‘What the hell?'” he says.
“And then I turned on the TV and it was such a shock.” Both my wife and I were quite tearful about it, and I never thought I would ever cry over a member of the royal family.
“When we were filming in Scotland, the director of the episode surrounding Diana’s death put together a reel for me and I couldn’t stop crying.
Thanks to the efforts of the hair, make-up and costume team, Imelda Staunton, who stars as Queen Elizabeth II in the final series, felt like the monarch every day during the two-and-a-half years of filming
Both Charles and the Queen’s characters seem stressed in the final season
“Neither the cameraman who filmed it nor the director. It was an extraordinary moment. “I relived waking up and listening to the radio.”
The difficulty of this time is revived as we see Charles telling William and Harry that their mother has died and grappling with the demands of the nation who wanted the family to be seen.
“It’s kind of the worst time in Charles’ life, so there are a lot of scenes where he’s trying to come to terms with Diana’s death, breaking the news to his sons, helping them grieve, and having varying degrees of success,” says he Dominic.
Re-creating the “holy” blue swimsuit moment
Princess Diana pictured in St. Tropez
The Crown pulled out all the stops when it came to recreating Diana and Dodi’s in St. Tropez last summer.
“Gottex, the company that made all of Diana’s swimwear, also made all of ours for us,” says costume designer Sid Roberts.
“We just adapted it to what Elizabeth felt comfortable with.” This ’90s style is cut very high on the thigh, goes all the way up, and is also quite high on the buttocks. So we just made those adjustments with Gottex.”
And for Elizabeth Debicki, the effort was worth it.
“I love the blue swimsuit that Diana wears when she goes to the end of the diving board on the yacht and sits down,” she says.
“There was just something about that swimsuit and the recreation of that moment that felt very sacred.”
“There were some really intense scenes and a lot of tears for Charles.” But I love crying, so it was great.
“Then there were a lot of celebratory tea parties at Windsor Castle or on Christmas Day or family photos or weddings that we were all at, and that was the greatest joy because you’re in one room and everyone looks like a member of the royal family.” Family, so it’s hilarious. Then Imelda comes in and you say, “My God, there’s the queen!”
In the final six episodes of the series, available in December, the family moves past Diana’s death and chronicles William and Kate’s budding romance in St. Andrews, ending with Charles and Camilla’s wedding in April 2005.
The university scenes were actually filmed at St Andrews and the wedding at York Minster.
Netflix boss Ted Sarandos has explained why the series ends there. “It was the limit of keeping it historical and not journalistic,” he said. “By stopping almost 20 years from today, it is dignified.”
Dominic – whose gardener wife Catherine FitzGerald is friends with Charles in real life – says he fought with the king’s cause.
“I really like him and admire him. “I think he’s a good guy with a lot to say and I didn’t want to reinforce that,” he says.
“But there were a lot of people around me who took the opposite point of view, so I hope what comes out of this is compassionate but relatively balanced.”
Fans will once again enjoy the recreation of key moments and the sometimes eerie portrayal of characters we know so well, although Dominic reveals he has avoided the use of “ear fillers” in this series.
“They made my ears go out, but it was quite a hassle and they were quite uncomfortable and didn’t make much of a difference,” he says. “Unfortunately you didn’t make me look like Charles anymore.”
Instead, he focuses more on an impression of the character than a complete likeness, revealing that he and Olivia Williams, who plays Camilla, had “trigger phrases” to empathize with the character.
“My main theme was based on an interview with Charles on the plane to Australia when he said, “I’m just doing it for jolly old Britain.”
“Olivia would say ‘Modern Democracy’ to get into character and then I would say ‘Jolly old Britain’ and we started the scene.”
For Imelda Staunton, his mother in the lead role, it was the outfits that made the difference.
“Everything I wear is handmade and all those details help,” she says.
“We do the makeup and when the wig goes on we say, ‘Here we go, that’s it.’ But actually the lipstick does it.
“It’s like adding all the ingredients together to make an amazing meal.” “They have to be right and it has to be cooked for the right time, but for two and a half years they’ve made me feel like I’m the queen every single day. “