Unpacking The Crown Season 6: Fact vs. Fiction

In The Crown, Princess Diana accepts Harrods owner Mohamad Al-Fayed's invitation to enactment astatine his villa successful Saint-Tropez. She tells Prince William and Prince Harry on the mode that they're going due to the fact that she can't carnivore to beryllium successful London while Prince Charles is fussing over Camilla Parker-Bowles' 50th day party.

That's by galore accounts the crushed wherefore Diana was anxious to get retired of municipality successful July 1997. "Wouldn't it beryllium comic if I abruptly came retired of the day cake?" she joked, per Andrew Morton's Diana: Her True Story successful Her Own Words, earlier making plans to permission the U.K.

Of course, the property wouldn't permission her unsocial regardless, and—as seen connected the Netflix drama—she really did hop successful a velocity vessel to face the photographers bobbing astir successful the Mediterranean. Asking if they wouldn't caput leaving her alone, successful speech she posed for a fewer shots successful her leopard-print Gottex bathing suit (recreated by the marque for the show) and, according to those who snapped distant eagerly, she promised "a large surprise" successful the adjacent future.

Onscreen and off, Mohamed spoke of son Dodi Fayed and Diana's great emotion matter and helped perpetuate the rumor that they were going to beryllium married. The $250,000 ringing Dodi bought for the princess was enactment connected show astatine Harrods on with the poem helium wrote and had engraved connected a metallic plaque (which Elizabeth Debicki's Diana pokes amusive astatine during a telephone with her therapist).

In existent life, Mohamed—who died successful August at 94—reportedly did person designs connected everlastingly linking his household to the royals. He was besides said to beryllium a domineering, controlling begetter to Dodi, who successful crook was relentlessly described arsenic a ne'er-do-well playboy successful posthumous accounts of his character.

Dodi was expected to get joined connected Aug. 9, 1997, according to Kelly Fisher, the exemplary who sued him for breach of declaration aft allegedly uncovering retired from the tabloids that she'd been swapped retired for the Princess of Wales.

In The Crown, the suit is spoken of—Diana marvels implicit the thought of a idiosyncratic being sued for falling retired of emotion and Dodi admits helium asked Kelly to chopped backmost connected work—but the bid does not reenact the tearful Aug. 13 property league Kelly held with lawyer Gloria Allred. (Kelly dropped her ailment aft Dodi died.)

Also onscreen, Dodi is successful Paris with Kelly erstwhile he's summoned to Saint-Tropez by his father, and she joins him a fewer days aboriginal aft uncovering retired he's been near to his ain devices with Diana (and her kids, Dodi assures her).

Per respective accounts of that jam-packed July, Kelly arrived with Dodi, but she stayed connected his smaller vessel and he'd spell backmost and distant from the Jonikal. In the series, erstwhile Kelly shows up, she's dismayed to beryllium taken to the lesser yacht. 

When The Crown's Diana finds retired that Dodi has squirrelled his fiancée away, the revelation rolls close disconnected her jaded backmost and they extremity up bonding implicit the sins of their respective fathers, Mohamed's "obsessive control" vs. Earl John Spencer's "complete and utter neglect."

The speech is Peter Morgan's creation, but Diana casually playing piano during the brushwood could person happened—she did play a bit, according to the series' researchers.

His aunt Princess Margaret (Lesley Manville)—conceivably much sympathetic to Charles and Camilla's concern as both a divorcée and arsenic a pistillate who couldn't get the queen to o.k. the matrimony she really wanted backmost successful the day—is the lone elder royal who shows up. She besides slips distant to telephone her sister to fto her cognize however blessed Charles seems, which seemingly immunodeficiency the queen connected her roadworthy to begrudging acceptance of Camilla.

Well, the queen and Philip famously did not be the enactment connected July 18, 1997, nor did immoderate of Charles' siblings—and neither did Margaret. In her 2017 biography Prince Charles, Sally Bedell Smith noted the "absence of immoderate members of the royal family."

Onscreen and off, while reports of the enactment treated Camilla favorably, which was Charles' superior aim, Diana's sunny vacation dominated the beforehand pages.

In The Crown, some family-friendly photos of kilt-clad Charles enjoying the large outdoors with William and Harry astatine Balmoral successful August 1997 were changeable by a trusted regular connected the royal circuit, Duncan Muir (Forbes Masson)—and wholly staged by the Prince of Wales (at his property secretary's urging) to combat the salacious Diana headlines ruling the day.

Meanwhile, Mohamed shamelessly hires photographer Mario Brenna (Enzo Cilenti) to get grounds that Dodi and Diana are an item, resulting successful the infamous PDA pics aboard the Jonikal that the Sunday Mirror snatched up for $250,000, with consequent rights going for arsenic overmuch arsenic $100,000.

The Crown's caput of research, Annie Sulzberger, told the New York Times that determination were aggregate theories arsenic to however Brenna tracked the mates down connected their concealed holiday, and her squad was inclined to judge idiosyncratic who worked for Mohamed tipped him disconnected to the yacht's location.

Brenna himself, however, maintains that immoderate communicative successful which helium was hired to get those photos is "absurd and wholly invented." He was usually successful Sardinia astatine that clip of twelvemonth to drawback celebrities connected vacation, helium told the NY Times, and helium had a "great changeable of luck" in spotting Diana and Dodi.

He is, however, a existent person, dissimilar longtime royal lensman "Duncan Muir," truthful overmuch a fixture in The Crown's satellite that the queen knows him by name. 

The existent outdoorsy photos of Charles and his boys taken astatine Balmoral are credited to Tim Graham.

In the aboriginal dawn hours while, arsenic Charles puts it successful The Crown, his sons inactive person a parent truthful agelong arsenic they stay asleep, helium goes walking on the craggy coastline extracurricular Balmoral and lets retired an explosive wail.

Later, erstwhile helium goes to Paris to cod Diana's body, infirmary unit retired successful the hallway tin perceive him sobbing from wrong her room. (And 1 of her sisters flashes conscionable the slightest of smirks, successful an "Oh, now you care" benignant of way.)

Episode director Christian Schwochow told the Los Angeles Times that, arsenic primitively relayed by idiosyncratic who witnessed the moment, he'd been told Charles "howled similar an animal" erstwhile helium recovered retired his ex-wife was dead. 

After overhearing an statement betwixt his begetter and grandparents implicit whether the royals should beryllium doing much to grieve Diana publicly, The Crown's William slips retired of Balmoral Castle and goes missing for fractional a day. Eventually helium reappears, soaking bedewed due to the fact that it's Scotland successful August, and walks done the doorway past his anxious family, including the queen, without a word.

"I was successful Balmoral erstwhile I was told that my parent had died. Still successful shock, I recovered sanctuary successful the work astatine Crathie Kirk that precise morning," existent William said successful 2021 during a sojourn to Scotland, explaining his heavy transportation to the country. "And successful the acheronian days of grief that followed, I recovered comfortableness and solace successful the Scottish outdoors."

Harry didn't notation his member moving disconnected successful his 2023 memoir Spare. He wrote of those surreal days earlier their mother's funeral, "We each remained ensconced wrong the castle. It was similar being wrong a crypt...If anyone talked astir anything, I didn't perceive them."

While The Crown doesn't picture the interior of immoderate of the royal funerals—the occurrence "Aftermath" ends with William and Harry walking with Charles, Philip and their uncle Earl Charles Spencer down their mother's coffin—the amusement does picture a spot of the Muslim work for Dodi.

The country was filmed astatine London Central Mosque successful Regent's Park, wherever the existent ceremonial took spot with small fanfare successful 1997.

"The full satellite talked astir [Diana's] decease and cared," manager Schwochow told the LA Times, "but however galore radical really cared astir Dodi's death?"

"Ritz," which depicts the accelerated diminution of Princess Margaret and whitethorn beryllium the saddest occurrence successful the full series, besides contains 1 of the astir joyous scenes.

In a flashback, 15-year-old Margaret (Beau Gadsdon) gets 19-year-old Elizabeth (Viola Prettejohn) to sneak retired of Buckingham Palace with her connected Victory successful Europe Day, May 8, 1945. They caput to the Ritz London, wherever the genteel solemnisation successful the ballroom is thing compared to the raucous bash downstairs.

Elizabeth ends up dancing the nighttime away—and kissing an obliging soldier, arsenic she reveals to Margaret arsenic the sisters tipsily marque their mode location the adjacent morning. Of people the aboriginal queen swears her sibling to secrecy.

While that would've been the astir epic happening ever, there's no exact account of their evening. However, they were allowed to "join the exultant multitude" extracurricular the palace, according to Ann Morrow's The Queen, and the girls "linked arms, sang, joined conga lines, and danced with strangers."

In some versions of events, however, Margaret's aboriginal love Peter Townsend did travel on to ticker retired for them.

It's that unforgettable evening in The Crown that inspires an ailing Margaret's privation to observe her 70th day astatine the Ritz—where her enactment did instrumentality spot successful existent beingness connected Oct. 25, 2000. She besides truly arrived successful a Rolls Royce and walked into the edifice connected her ain contempt the lingering symptom from the terrible burns she suffered to her legs and feet successful a bathtub mishap the erstwhile year.

In different attendance switch-up, Philip reportedly was astatine Margaret's day enactment successful existent beingness but didn't spell successful The Crown, prompting a barb from the queen astir her beloved person Henry "Porchey" Carnarvon being a astir reliable companion. (Also her racing manager for decades, Lord Carnarvon truly was her favourite idiosyncratic to speech horses with.)

In The Crown, Margaret is distraught learning astir the Sept. 11, 2001, violent onslaught connected U.S. soil, and past she finds retired that the queen's confidante Porchey dropped dormant watching the news.

Porchey did die connected the operating array that day, having suffered a bosom onslaught moments aft the 2nd level deed the World Trade Center—which helium and wife Jean Carnarvon saw connected unrecorded TV, according to Bedell Smith's 2012 biography Elizabeth the Queen.

"The queen was devastated," Jean told the author. "It was truthful unexpected. It caught america all."

Detailing her ceremonial program to the queen in The Crown, Margaret says she wants to be dressed successful a floral print (no achromatic and nary reddish lipstick) and for the organist to play the finale from Swan Lake during the arrivals. Her flowers of choice: roses and tulips.

The queen's younger sister died connected Feb. 9, 2002, when she was lone 71. On Feb. 15, a rose-colored coffin was draped with achromatic roses and pinkish tulips, and Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake played arsenic mourners filed into St. George's Chapel successful Windsor for the backstage ceremonial Margaret had requested, according to reports from the day. After the work she became the archetypal subordinate of the royal household successful 60 years to beryllium cremated, her ashes interred successful the household vault adjacent to her father, King George VI.

The Queen Mother, besides Elizabeth, was 101 erstwhile she passed away less than 2 months later, connected March 30.

Not arsenic large arsenic Beatlemania, but beauteous sizable. Teenage Prince William—or Wills, arsenic helium was familiarly referred to—was a registered heartthrob astatine location and abroad and helium truly was mobbed by girls erstwhile Charles brought both sons to Canada successful 1998.

It's highly unlikely, however, that 14-year-old Kate Middleton was snipping his representation retired of magazines aft she and her mum, Carole Middleton, spotted him and his mum successful the street selling copies of The Big Issue for foundation (which the prince has been known to bash successful existent life).

Not lone bash Kate and Will fastener eyes successful the made-up scene, but Diana besides exchanges a fewer words with the miss who volition 1 time wed her son.

If only.

William and Kate were already friends—and she was dating fourth-year Rupert Finch—when she wore a see-through skirt for a formal astatine a foundation manner amusement and her aboriginal husband's jaw deed the floor.

"Kate's hot!" William whispered to his pal Fergus Boyd, according to royal biographer Katie Nicholl. The prince made a determination astatine the after-party, but Kate initially pulled distant erstwhile helium leaned successful for a kiss, per Nicholl's The Making of a Royal Romance: William, Kate and Harry—A Look Behind the Palace Walls.

"It was wide to america that William was smitten with Kate," said a person of some who witnessed the moment. "He really told her she was a knockout that night, which caused her to blush." 

Meanwhile, another partygoer, Andrew Sands, recalled seeing retired of the country of his oculus that Will and Kate kissed astatine the extremity of the night, according to Nicholl's 2013 follow-up Kate: The Future Queen. "Everyone pretended that they weren't taking overmuch notice," Andrew said, "but it went circular St. Andrews similar wildfire afterwards."

The Crown took a batch of vigor past year arsenic it entered the royals' annus horribilis-defined era, but erstwhile Prime Minister John Major was particularly incensed by a crippled constituent that had him (as played by Jonny Lee Miller) and Charles discussing the anticipation of the queen abdicating her throne.

Major called the depiction "a barrel-load of malicious nonsense" and encouraged viewers to boycott play five. (The Crown was nominated for six much Emmys instead.)

In the bid finale, the queen asks to springiness a code astatine Charles and Camilla's April 9, 2005, wedding, starring to speculation she's going to denote she's stepping down. (Peter Morgan seemingly wasn't fazed by Major's ire.)

After being visited by the ghosts of queens past (The Crown O.G. Claire Foy and her successor Olivia Colman), Elizabeth decides there's much enactment to beryllium done. Giving her wedding speech, the queen reads from a bid of cards, noticeably skipping over one of them.

On the existent day, the queen—who didn't be the civilian vow ceremonial but did articulation the newlyweds for the religion blessing afterward and hosted a reception for her lad and daughter-in-law astatine Windsor Castle—invoked a horse-racing metaphor erstwhile describing Charles and Camilla's agelong travel to the altar.

And destined to reign for 17 much years, the queen herself evidently wasn't acceptable to beryllium enactment retired to pasture.