“The Crown” Producers Are Stressing Out About Filming Princess Diana’s Death

The fifth season of The Crown premieres November 9, and the Royals aren’t the only ones with their fancy knickers in a twist. Deadline reports that the show’s creatives are “on edge” about having to film Princess Diana’s death in Paris. At first I thought, “Shit, these guys really left it ’til the last minute!” But, nope. The scene is actually being filmed for the show’s sixth season. Creator Peter Morgan has confirmed the crash itself won’t be filmed, but the paparazzi car chase and immediate aftermath will. Ironically, one of their concerns is that real life paps will snap a picture of production recreating Di’s death and “create uproar in royal circles.” Everyone behind the scenes wants to handle the scene extra-sensitively, especially with the recent passing of THE QUEEN. Well, if they do fuck it up, big whoop. It’s not like the real-life Royals handled Diana’s death any better.

Elizabeth Debicki will be playing 90’s Diana in the fifth and sixth seasons. The majority of the scenes covering the before and after of her death will be shot in two weeks. A source tells Deadline:

“We’ve been dreading getting to this point. The countdown is two weeks and while we’re calmly carrying on it’s fair to acknowledge that there’s a certain anxiety; a palpable sense of being slightly on edge. I mean, there’s bombshell sensitivity surrounding this one,” a source on the production told Deadline.

The source reiterated points made by others that the supposed collision between the Mercedes-Benz and a Fiat at the entrance to the Pont de l’Alma will not be filmed. Instead, the show will chart events before and after. ”It’s the run-up: the car leaving The Ritz after midnight with paparazzi in pursuit and then the aftermath with the British Ambassador to France swinging into action with the Foreign Office and then the subsequent constitutional aftermath,” we were told.

Deadline adds that the episode will also have scenes showing Prince Charles (played by notorious love rat Dominic West) arriving in Paris on a royal flight to collect Diana’s body. Those scenes will be contrasted with the racism faced by Dodi Al-Fayed’s father, Mohamed Al-Fayed when he took possession of the casket containing his son.

The sixth season is being shot in Paris, London, and Spain. Netflix will provide security for cast and crew (just like they do for all their shows), but they want to approach Diana’s death episode “with great sensitivity” and ensure paps are kept away from the sets. They’re concerned that any shots of the Mercedes-Benz at the entrance to the tunnel, or its recreation, could piss off the Royals. They already halted filming temporarily after THE QUEEN’S death.

I sorta-kinda watch The Crown. I fast-forward the boring bits (anything to do with Margaret Thatcher, that one ep where that guy breaks into Buckingham Palace and talks to THE QUEEN forever), but you bet your peasant ass I’ll tune into Diana’s death episode. I really hope they include these guys:

Pic: Stefan Rousseau/PA Images/INSTARimages.com