PALACE CONFIDENTIAL: Royals will be 'dreading' new series of The Crown
October 13, 2023Royals will be ‘dreading’ new series of The Crown after learning it will feature the ghost of Diana, Princess of Wales, experts tell PALACE CONFIDENTIAL
- Netflix’s royal drama has been branded a ‘tawdry soap opera’ by Richard Eden
- READ MORE: The Crown series 6 first teaser: Final instalment to be split into two parts as trailer sees Claire Foy and Olivia Colman return alongside Imelda Staunton to chart Queen Elizabeth’s conflict over her life and duty
Revelations in the Mail that forthcoming episodes of The Crown will feature the ghost of Diana, Princess of Wales, will be extremely unwelcome news to the Royal Family, according to a royal expert.
According to reports, the ghost of the dead princess, played by Elizabeth Debicki, will have an emotional reconciliation with a grieving Charles, played by Dominic West, in the sixth and final series of the show, which will stream in two parts – the first next month, and the second in December.
She then appears in phantom form again to Queen Elizabeth II, played by Imelda Staunton, as they discuss funeral arrangements with Charles – with her appearance seemingly reducing the Queen to tears in the series, which will air from next month.
Speaking on this week’s episode of Palace Confidential, the Daily Mail’s Diary Editor Richard Eden said he believes that The Firm will be ‘dreading the new series’ of Netflix’s royal drama.
The Daily Mail’s Diary Editor Richard Eden (pictured) told Palace Confidential that the Royal Family is dreading the upcoming sixth – and final – series of The Crown
‘From what I hear, each time there’s a new series, there’s a collective groan at the Palace, “oh not again”,’ he told the royal chat show.
Richard added: ‘I think one of the worst aspects of being in the Royal Family is having to put up with this sort of stuff.
‘Now it’s become this sort of tawdry soap opera, I think they will be dreading the new series.’
And the Daily Mail’s Royal Editor Rebecca English meanwhile believes the producers of the show have made some ‘distasteful decisions’ and have gone too far with series 6 of the Netflix show.
‘I personally think the Crown makers have shot themselves in the foot with this,’ she told the programme.
‘These are very personal, private moments being really sensationalised, the moment with Charles and [the ghost of] Diana comes just after he’s shown sobbing over her coffin in Paris. Some people will say that it’s pretty distasteful.’
Speaking previously about the upcoming series of the royal drama, royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams told MailOnline that ‘the idea that they have even contemplated Diana as a ghost seems absolutely weird’, particularly considering the controversial elements already swirling around the show.
Mr Fitzwilliams said: ‘It is going to be a controversial series any ways with what they are already showing – the Panorama documentary, her death and the funeral – and in my opinion it should never have made this final series in the first place.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=5VSgviutnEQ%3Frel%3D0
Diana is played by Debicki (pictured, left) the Queen by Imelda Staunton (pictured, right) and Charles by Dominic West (pictured, far right) in the upcoming series of The Crown
‘The whole idea that (show creator) Peter Morgan has scripted ghostly appearances by Diana is utterly tasteless.
‘It is pitiful that someone with his skills has reduced what is undoubtedly a tragedy to something that he knows perfectly well will be controversial.
‘The idea that he has scripted a ghostly figure of the mother of Prince William and Harry is obviously tasteless and the whole concept, whatever the ghost says or does, seems utterly bizarre.’
Mr Fitzwilliams said Charles will remain silent on the portrayal but his two sons Princes Harry and William may speak out – after both criticised the BBC in 2021 over Martin Bashir’s infamous Panorama interview with Diana in 1995.
Elizabeth Debicki plays Princess Diana in The Crown and is pictured in series five of the show
He added: ‘We may well hear what they think of the portrayal, but the trouble is if they do make a statement it will only add to the hype surrounding The Crown and there you have a problem.
‘If Prince William or Prince Harry were to comment on this it would make headlines and even more people would watch it than they intended to.
‘Whether they would watch such a thing, I have no idea of course. The King will make absolutely no comment at all. I think the Royal Family decided long ago what they think of The Crown – that it seems to have totally forsaken taste.’
Mr Fitzwilliams went on to slam the production as a whole, claiming the portrayal of Diana’s phantom was nothing more than a publicity stunt and that the final series, which has already come under fire for recreating Diana’s death in Paris, should never have been made.
‘It also seems to be an attempt to get publicity and you get the impression that there is nothing they wouldn’t do to get publicity,’ he said.
‘The Crown is controversial enough as it is and I really believe there should not be a final series considering the damage it’s done already.
Upcoming: The series poster shows one striking shot of Princess Diana in a blue bathing suit sat at the end of a jetty
‘What is so strange is that this series was already controversial and to put a ghost on top of that is absolutely deplorable and tasteless.’
Meanwhile, brand and culture expert Nick Ede added that the brothers could be ‘appalled’ by the depiction of their late mother, and it would be ‘quite triggering’.
He told MailOnline: ‘The producers have said the Diana ghost portrays ‘visualisations of innermost thoughts’ but of course this will be quite triggering and could cause distress.
‘William and Harry I am sure will also find this difficult to acknowledge as they have no idea what Diana was feeling and where her emotions were during that time so this factional drama becomes one of fantasy and speculation which could appall the pair as it changes the narrative of the memory of their beloved mother,’ he said.
A Netflix source said the appearance of Debicki after Diana’s death was meant to be a ‘visualisations of innermost thoughts’ rather than intended to be interpreted as ‘supernatural’.
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