The Crown Cast Previews Diana’s ‘Devastating’ Death and More in Final Season — Plus, See New Photos
The Crown is saying goodbye after six seasons — and also saying goodbye to a beloved princess.
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Diana’s tragic death will be a major plot point in the upcoming final season of Netflix’s royal drama, and the streamer has released new photos that foreshadow the car crash that took the lives of Diana and her boyfriend Dodi Fayed in 1997. (Season 6 of The Crown will be released in two parts, with Part 1 debuting on the streamer on Thursday, Nov. 16.)
“I think it’s a really unique challenge as an actor, to portray those days,” Elizabeth Debicki, who plays Diana, tells Netflix’s Tudum. “I really just trusted in [series creator] Peter [Morgan]’s emotional blueprint that he created for us to follow. It’s his interpretation, and I think it made emotional sense to me, so I clung to that. Because, obviously, it’s devastating and it’s fraught and we can never know.”
The four episodes of Season 6, Part 1 “depict a relationship blossoming between Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed before a fateful car journey has devastating consequences,” per the official description.
Read on to see more new photos from The Crown’s final season and hear from the actors about portraying these pivotal moments in the lives of the British royal family.
Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth II
Staunton reflects on her second season playing the longstanding monarch: “I’ve been living with her for a long time so, if anything, I felt more comfortable this time. I love her stillness and her ability to not be thrown by everything that must have constantly — throughout her whole life — gone on around her.”
Dominic West as Prince Charles
West opens up about playing such a public figure: “I think he’s got real sadness to him and real compassion, and what’s great about The Crown is that you see these public figures in private. I suspect in private he’s quite emotional. Well, that’s the way I played him, anyway… I think, hopefully, what comes out is compassionate but relatively well balanced.”
He also shares that “I talked to a lot of people who have met [Charles] because he’s met a lot of people. He’s met probably more than anyone except the Queen and Prince Philip. Almost everyone has extremely warm, kind things to say about him.”
Plus, young actors Rufus Kampa and Fflyn Edwards make their debuts in Season 6, Part 1 as Charles and Diana’s sons Prince William and Prince Harry, respectively.
Khalid Abdalla as Dodi Fayed
“It’s been the honor of my life to be part of this project, to be part of The Crown, and to play Dodi,” the actor says of portraying Diana’s love interest.
Salim Daw as Mohamed Al Fayed
“I adore this character,” the actor says of playing Dodi’s gregarious father. “I love him so much, and I enjoy portraying him because I love him. In this huge series, he is so human and he’s so colorful. He’s hard sometimes, very hard, funny, like a child — with his son, he’s sometimes very, very hard, but he has plenty of love for his son, and the audience will see that and will feel exactly what I’m talking about.”
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