The producers behind hit Netflix series “The Crown” are preparing to shoot the scenes leading up to Princess Diana’s death, Variety understands, which is causing some anxiety among the cast and crew.
The scenes are due to be shot in the next two weeks with Elizabeth Debicki playing Diana (pictured above). A source says there is a strong desire within the production team “to get it right and handle [it] sensitively.”
More from Variety
Not only are Diana’s sons, Princes Wiliam and Harry, still alive and continuing to grieve but the British royal, dubbed “the People’s Princess” by former Prime Minister Tony Blair, continues to hold a special place in the public’s hearts some 25 years after she died in a Paris car crash at the age of 36.
Diana was with her boyfriend Dodi Al Fayed, son of Egyptian billionaire Mohamed Al-Fayed, and pursued by paparazzi when the couple’s driver sped into a Parisian tunnel and crashed into a pillar in the Pont de l’Alma underpass on Aug. 31, 1997. Only Diana’s bodyguard survived.
Although it is understood that makers of “The Crown” do not plan to show the moment of the the crash, they will portray scenes leading up to it and its aftermath. As Variety revealed last year, Khalid Abdalla has been cast as Dodi while Mohamed Al-Fayed will be portrayed by both Salim Daw and Amir El-Masry. El-Masry will play a younger Al-Fayed, presumably in flashback sequences.
“The Crown,” which is currently shooting its sixth and supposedly final season, has always been innovative about which episodes of the British royal family’s life it portrays on screen, often staying away from anything obvious in favor of more intimate moments. Diana’s wedding to Prince Charles, for example, was not shown on screen although audiences were privy to a short montage of the couple getting dressed in their bridal finery alongside a voiceover of a clergyman reading their marriage rites. The scene ended as Diana, in her wedding dress, walked into the hallway and through some double doors.
The fifth season of “The Crown,” which will follow the family throughout the Nineties, is set to air next month with a new cast taking over the roles. Imelda Staunton (“Harry Potter”) takes over from Olivia Colman as Queen Elizabeth II while Jonathan Pryce (“The Two Popes”) will play her husband, Prince Philip. Dominic West (“The Affair”) stars as Prince Charles.
Best of Variety
Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
