Princess Diana is a candle in the wind in new trailer for The Crown‘s final season
Tabloids, sunglasses, and foreboding limos are the crux of the new trailer
TV News The Crown
Although tabloids and royal watchers still can’t get enough of those rascally monarchs, Netflix is preparing to launch the last season of The Crown, which has somehow only been on TV since 2016. Sadly, no season will dissect Harry’s defection and subsequent Oprah interview, no matter how much those Markle heads demand it. The show will end, as many probably predicted, shortly after Diana’s death, and the new trailer for the sixth and final season really wants us to know it.
Opening on a lone Diana (Elizabeth Debicki) sitting at a piano, the first minute of the clip sees Diana “dashing around” in a gloomy haze of paparazzi flashbulbs as she gets in and out of limos, private jets, and yachts. “Unfortunately, Your Majesty, interest in the princess’ private life is unlikely to die down any time soon,” an offscreen voice warns Queen Elizabeth (Imelda Staunton). By the end of the first minute, Diana reads a note that asks, “Paris next week?” Subtlety has no place in Buckingham. Yes, the final season of The Crown will deal with the death of Diana and the fallout from it. As such, Netflix’s trailer spells out everything we’ll see this season.
Diana’s death, however, is foregrounded by her mother-in-law’s deep dislike for the woman. “You’ve finally succeeded in turning this house upside down,” Elizabeth tells Diana. “It’s nothing less than revolution.” Those words ring out as the phones blare and helicopters cross the channel, introducing the second half of the trailer, which teases Queen Elizabeth’s emergence as a leader. She would continue as queen until the end of the monarchy because without The Crown, kings and queens become mere symbolic figureheads, living freely in a palace paid for by public funds.
Since this is The Crown’s last go-round, Netflix has cloven the season in twain. Part One, consisting of episodes one through four and presumably ending with Diana’s death, will premiere on November 16, and Part Two, episodes five through ten, i.e., the boring part without Diana, will premiere on December 14. However, in that second part, royal watchers will get a few moments with Kate Middleton and her hats, so that’s something to look forward to.
13 Comments
And it seems to meYou lived your lifeLike a sandal in the bin…
First off fuck you Netflix for cutting this in half on principle. Two, I don’t see how this isn’t going to be repetitive as hell with the Queen still around (the film not the person). It would honestly be more economical to have a frame say now watch Peter Morgan’s the Queen, watch rest of episode after.
Maybe this first half will end shortly after Diana’s death, but Morgan has confirmed its true endpoint is 2010. And he says he may well do a follow-up season about more recent events once enough time has passed and historical hindsight has racked up that he feels comfortable dramatizing it.
I was hoping the final shot would be Elizabeth’s answering the phone as a nebulous voice on the other end of the line just says ‘It’s done’.
“I’d like to talk to you about the Avengers initiative.”
“For fuck’s sake, Andrew, stop calling me.”
Yes, I’m doubtful that they want the end of the series to be primarily about Princess Diana, or to be focused on events already covered by The Queen. I would expect the first half of the series to cover all the events surrounding Diana’s death, including the Queen’s response, so the second half can return the focus to Queen Elizabeth’s later life. I would think the origins of Prince Andrew’s scandals would be a good topic to address in the later half, especially since they’ve already set it up in the episode about favorite children.
Maybe when Charlie is dead in a decade. Man looks worse then his mother already.
The last season was an absolute snooze fest (Sorry Phillip I don’t give a shit about your chariot racing subplot). I’ll watch to put the bow on it but the show has definitely run out of ways to make everyone in this family even seem remotely interesting.
I didn’t finish it – I got too aggravated and bored. Finally forced myself because of the posts here and knowing I wanted to see this bit. I also really don’t think QE2 hated Diana – I think she was smart enough to place the blame on everyone responsible for that mess: including herself, Phillip and Chuckles.
I liked parts of it, but (for all the tabloid excitement that still follows Princess Diana) I don’t think the drama between her and Charles is especially interesting. It’s just kind of exhausting and sad. The show also generally does a good job of tying personal drama between the characters into broader themes of national importance, but that kind of faded away for the Diana-Charles fighting episodes.
I blame COVID protocols and an old cast for a lot of that. Too many scenes with a single character sitting alone in a room talking with another character sitting alone in another room. I get it, but it was boring.
I will still watch it, but I’d really prefer the show start with Diana’s death (first episode only features her) so that we could focus more on the aftermath and beyond, which is all a lot more interesting to me.
Oof I am not ready for this upcoming emotional rollercoaster. Gonna miss this show when it’s gone.