How Does 'The Crown' Show Diana's Death?
Elizabeth Debicki as Princess Diana in "The Crown" Season 6
The Crown Season 6 is largely centered on Princess Diana and the tragic ending to her life.
The final season begins in 1997, a year after Diana and then-Prince Charles' divorce, and covers her relationship with sons Prince William and Prince Harry, as well as with the royal family and the world at large.
Of course, her romance with Dodi Fayed is also a main feature of the first episode, as well their untimely deaths.
Related: How to Watch The Crown Season 6
Elizabeth Debicki, who starred as Diana in Season 5 and reprises the role in Season 6, said she was "devastated" by the death of the People's Princess in the show.
"I remember I read all four [scripts], and then I took a deep breath and laid down somewhere," she said in a panel discussion (via Vanity Fair). "I felt the weight of what was coming. But I thought the scripts were extremely beautiful, and I trusted them. But I could sort of feel it in the air, in a way."
Related: 10 Filming Locations From The Crown That You Can Visit In Real Life
How does The Crown show Diana's death?
The Crown doesn't explicitly show the actual car crash that killed Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed. Instead, the first episode opens with the chase that led up to the crash through the eyes of a dog walker near the Pont de l’Alma bridge in Paris. We then see aftermath, including then-Prince Charles visit the Paris hospital mortuary after her death and hear him screaming and wailing in grief.
A key part of what ultimately led to Diana and Fayed's tragic deaths was the constant pursuit of paparazzi, a key element that her son Harry especially has been vocal and understandably sensitive about ever since. Debicki told The Hollywood Reporter that filming scenes of throngs of photographers hounding the Princess of Wales was a harrowing experience in and of itself.
Related: The Most Poignant Photos From Princess Diana's Funeral
"It's pretty horrendous, it's very abusive to hound somebody like that. I think Khalid would say the same that you only have to experience it for like 10 seconds before you realize it's completely bizarre and a horrendous experience to find yourself in. You’re really trapped," she said. "And it's also mad because you think, 'What are they trying to do? What do they want?' And they just want a piece. So it's a very strange experience ... your body is actually experiencing the pressure of the physical experience and so you're acting from a very instinctive place."
The show features Fayed and Diana's last elevator ride from the Ritz hotel in Paris to the car that they'd eventually be in during their fatal crash. It also shows the tunnel where the crash occurred, which caused a stir at the time the scenes were being filmed.
"The images of Diana and Dodi at the Ritz taken from a security camera—it's these images that are imprinted on our collective unconsciousness, so to find yourself replicating them is a very strange experience," Debicki told Vanity Fair. "Nothing as an actor really prepares you for the layers of emotional ramifications. I experienced that a lot, and I kind of just let it be there. I didn't fight it."
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