‘The Crown’ Season 6, Part 1 trailer: Princess Diana’s last chaotic summer

From what I gather, many of you guys will skip The Crown’s final season. I won’t skip it, but I’m leaving myself open to be mad about it. As someone of a certain age, I have to say that The Crown is absolutely getting several things right: the iconography of Princess Diana, the starkness of her final summer, the chaos that surrounded her at every turn in 1997. Netflix released the trailer of Season 6 Part 1:

I said before that the poster of Diana in the turquoise one-piece, sitting on the diving board, gave me chills. I got goosebumps when I saw how The Crown shot it too – from the perspective of the paparazzi trailing the Jonikal that summer. I’m not saying that Peter Morgan did right by Diana by any stretch, but the combination of historical accuracy, amazing art direction and Elizabeth Debicki’s transcendent performance is something else.

I’ve been waiting to see if King Charles throws another tantrum about The Crown this year. I hope he does – he won’t have his mother to hide behind, and 26 years later, I am more convinced than ever that he and the institution had a hand in her death.

Photos courtesy of Netflix/The Crown.

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48 Responses to “‘The Crown’ Season 6, Part 1 trailer: Princess Diana’s last chaotic summer”

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  1. Carol says:

    Oh yes, I will watch. I started tearing up just watching the trailer. I remember this like it was yesterday.

    • mellie says:

      Same here. Just like my mom remembers where she was when JFK was killed, I remember where I was when Princess Diana died. So sad and senseless.

    • NotSoSocialB says:

      Same. I remember that whole morning of news, where I was, what I was doing.😕

      • Nina says:

        I was a news reporter at a smallish US daily paper. The news came over around 10 or 11 pm, just before our deadlines. The whole room stopped what we were doing [a VERY unusual occurrence] to watch the TV and read the wires, with people shouting out the latest bulletins. My female colleagues were all weeping openly, and the men were trying really hard not to cry but some of them gave in. I will never forget those moments.

      • Seraphina says:

        I remember it too. Out at the beach, at a bar with my friends and when CNN broke it – we all froze. FROZE.

    • Latte says:

      Same…chills

      • aftershocks says:

        Guys, it may be of the moment for many to now fully realize and finally accept that Diana was purposely killed. The stark reality is that she was absolutely certain (not paranoid) about the threats surrounding her. Well before her horrific death, she spoke of fearing ‘they’ were planning to have her killed in a car accident.

        There is a documentary that has been up on YouTube for years, which explicitly and thoroughly details all of the discrepancies and cover-ups surrounding Diana’s death and the aftermath. Many people have just never wanted to believe what has always been obvious.

        Plus, I reiterate what I was the first to say on CB: the phenomenal love story of H&M, and the ongoing unraveling of the firm’s lies, precipitated by H&M’s unbreakable union, and their resilient starshine, are collectively, without a doubt, Diana’s Revenge! 🌬 🌪

        When did Harry first lay eyes on his soulmate, Rachel Meghan Markle? On July 1, 2016, Diana’s 55th birthday. ⚡️

      • TikiChica says:

        You lost me at “without a doubt, Diana’s revenge”. Or maybe before, at “youtube documentary”.

      • aftershocks says:

        ^^ Eh. 🤷🏽‍♀️ Lots of people are lost in the wilderness. At least you admit to getting lost.

        Just because a thoroughly researched, credible investigative documentary is posted on YouTube, does not make its content invalid. It’s easy to ignore factual evidence that has been sullied and covered-up. As well, there are many mysteries existing all around us. To each their own capacity to believe in things beyond our understanding.

        “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1-6

        If you read Harry’s book, you must have been seriously lost and weirded out by many of his experiences and anecdotes, including the Christmas ornament incident; Archie’s odd and ultimately plausible attraction to a large painting in Tyler Perry’s home; and the climactic hummingbird incident in the Epilogue. It is Harry who relates the fact, on p. 269 of Spare, that he coincidentally first connected with Meghan on his mother’s 55th birthday.

        With everything that has happened since Harry met Meghan, you can ignore or dismiss the astounding connections and revelations, stay lost, or call it whatever you prefer. I call it, Diana’s Revenge! 🌬 🌪⚡️

    • Kate says:

      I will definitely watch, I found this show to be a snooze before Elizabeth Debicki, but she is amazing in the role so now (much like with the real Diana I suppose) I can’t look away!

    • BlueNailsBetty says:

      Mom and I were up early and had the tv on. A “breaking news” graphic flashed. Mom turned up the volume and the reporter came on and told the world Diana was dead. Time stood still. We were in complete shock. And then we lost it.

      It still makes me cry.

  2. Amy Bee says:

    I must admit that the trailer looks good but I stopped watching the Crown because of what was going on with Harry and Meghan. And yes the Royal Family did have a hand in Diana’s death as they created the conditions for it to happen and they’re trying to do the same thing her youngest son and his family.

    • Seraphina says:

      I agree, trailer looks good but I too stopped watching. I don’t want to see chuck or QE2 depicted as compassionate or empathetic. Because of how they treated Harry and Meghan – I know they were unkind to Diana.
      I refuse to believe they could not have stepped in to help Diana as well as Harry and Meghan. They are all vipers.

      • L4Frimaire says:

        That really is a powerful trailer. I was really excited about season 5 as well but then heard how they basically caved and watered down everything to make Charles and Camilla look better. I remember when Diana’s friend Jemima Goldsmith criticized and left the production, which she was consulting on, because she didn’t like how Morgan was portraying Diana. Then Morgan’s interview where he’s basically said he tuned out the whole saga with the Sussexes and made me think he doesn’t want to see the parallels of how they still operate over there. I’ll wait and see the feedback before considering watching this..

    • Brassy Rebel says:

      The trailer looked good last year too. I’m not falling for that trick again. I expected fireworks 🎆 last year. All I got were duds🧨.

      • Sam says:

        I definitely won’t watch it and haven’t watched any episode. I find it shocking and disgusting that so many people around the world watch this series and believe exactly that this happened.

        In this series, history has been rewritten by a monarchist, which is the most dangerous thing ever! That’s really frightening! Diana is portrayed completely wrong and the BRF is portrayed in an almost positive light, even though there is nothing good in the history of this German family! And nothing is shown about colonialism when Elizabeth was Queen and what really really bad things she did. And there are so many people who are obsessed with this series and maybe also with the monarchy now… I don’t even want to think about the lies the series tells about Will+Karen. Certainly not that Karen has already followed Will to Chile before she transfers to his university for well-known reasons just to marry into this family.

      • Macky says:

        Brassyrebel that’s becoming a British hallmark. The trailers are great but the actually movies and TV shows are stale and propaganda.

        I do not like Helena bonham Carter so I never watched. Wanted to start watching but it’s obvious the “overseers” have step in and started dictating.

  3. Becks1 says:

    That trailer looks good. The shot of Balmoral at dark with the lights coming on…..that sent chills up my spine. and what I’m trying to remind myself is that when QE says things like “I want that girl to find peace” or whatever, that’s really what she thought – that Diana had to find peace, that she was bringing it on herself, etc.

    For the diving board picture – that was going to be the cover of…..Hello or something….before diana died. Thet title was going to be “diana in her solitude” and they obviously pulled it and went with something different when she died.

    • Pinkosaurus says:

      I’m going to wait to see the reviews here before I give Netflix the watched hours. I don’t want to reward Morgan unless he is at least nominally fair to Diana and isn’t just covering up for the monarchy to not endanger a future knighthood.

    • Nic919 says:

      The trailer does look good but even there they have moments trying to make Charles look more sympathetic by making him somehow understand the magnitude of the moment. This is contradicting how Morgan himself lays out the post death events in The Queen.

      I will watch this but probably be yelling the whole time. I also think that social media is not going to react the way Charles wants them to because the connections to Diana’s “accidental” death and the threats to Harry and Meghan are too obvious.

      • Professor Plum says:

        In “The Queen,” Charles (played by Alex Jennings, who played the Duke of Windsor in S1&2 of the Crown) is the one, alongside Tony Blair, who is pushing the Queen to grasp the magnitude of the moment…. This portrayal seems consistent with Morgan’s earlier work…

      • Nic919 says:

        Tony Blair had a far more prominent role in the movie in getting the queen to do the right thing. The trailer doesn’t even bother to include Blair this time, which does not bode well.

        This series has always been very sympathetic toward Charles even in the early seasons. It’s just getting more obvious now that there are better historical records of what happened and still Charles is being shown with rose coloured frames.

  4. Lala11_7 says:

    I will watch…as I TRULY enjoyed the pre-Diana years…I ❤️ how the show ALWAYS starts with a historical event to anchor it…and I’m gonna to see if they mangle Diana as much as they did last season 😠

  5. AnneL says:

    I’m torn. The trailer really does look good. But they are doing too much to make Charles and TQ sympathetic and it just chaps me. Diana would have been “at peace” if her husband hadn’t cheated on and manipulated her, if her in-laws had been more supportive. Not spying on her would have been nice too. No wonder she was tormented.

    • Seraphina says:

      That’s why I cannot watch anymore. Diana told her story while she was alive and was able to do so. This show is now changing the narrative and making the two monsters look like they were sympathetic to her. Some of us were able to grow up and see it all unfold and hear Diana’s interviews when they aired. So I will not watch this narrative.

      • NotSoSocialB says:

        I feel the same way.

      • Nlopez says:

        💯 % Agree SERAPHINA! Chuck and Cam are horrible people! I couldn’t sleep at night if I had treated Diana the way they did. William is a lost cause. I’d never censor my mother’s words.

    • DK says:

      @AnneL: Too right.

      And knowing what we now know about just how in bed the BRF are with the BM, and how extensive their “invisible contract” is, we know that not only could they have insisted that the media and the paps pull back on Diana and they chose NOT to do it…they also probably egged the media on and gave full support for them to go full throttle at Diana, directly resulting in her death.

      Given we know for sure now that the BRF exacerbated the media circus around H&M to cover up Will’s indiscretions, it’s clear that they were doing the same towards Diana to redirect attention away from Camz.

      (And that’s giving them the generous view that her death was sincerely caused by a pap chase and not MI-whatever posing as paps at Chuck’s direct order….)

  6. Harper says:

    I’ll watch but I know it will make me angry. I don’t think CRex will have a tantrum pre-release this year because it’s obvious that he already got to Peter Morgan last year. Last season was really just so weak and timid. The thrill is gone for this series as far as in-depth accuracy. I watch for the sets and costumes and cinematography which is still good.

  7. Digital Unicorn says:

    I remember all the press around her in the months leading up to the accident – it was crazy. The press feeding frenzy was off the scale – way worse than anything we’ve seen so far with the Sussex’s but I fear that is escalating.

    Plus that image of Diana at the piano – now we know where Keens gets it from. The Diana cosplaying it just ……………………

    Mumbles and her mother are really quite the case studies.

  8. Emmlo says:

    Elizabeth Debicki is giving an extraordinary performance as Diana, I’m watching for her. I cannot imagine anyone portraying Diana better than she has done. She has the voice and the posture and the sparkle – it’s really something to watch. It makes Dominic West as Charles look awful in comparison, which is funny. Art imitating life.

    • Brassy Rebel says:

      I agree Elizabeth Debecki is extraordinary. Still not watching.

      • L4Frimaire says:

        I was so looking forward to seeing her portray Diana, but heard such bad feedback about the series that I skipped it. Feel like it was ruined for me.

    • Tessa says:

      She is a fine actress but a bad script was given to her. Diana was active and worked on charities and did not sit home moping

  9. D says:

    Elizabeth Debecki is amazing but I had to stop watching during the second season of Emma Corrin’s Diana because it was too painful and I hated the sympathetic edit that Charles got in those seasons (although Josh O’Connor was wonderful). It feels icky watching this as someone who remembers this summer so clearly and especially the night it was being reported on. It’s so clear in my memory that I remember what I was wearing when we turned on the TV to see the news after going out to dinner.

  10. sparrow says:

    I don’t think I’ll watch. Harry and William are very much alive and this is recent enough to hurt all those close to her, particularly her children. I don’t think they should have made this season. Hearing that phone call in the trailer was a step too far for me.

  11. JayGee says:

    The last season made Diana look crazy to a degree I will NOT FORGIVE. SHHAAAME on these people

  12. QuiteContrary says:

    Nope. The scenes with Charles turn my stomach.

  13. sparrow says:

    As I said above, it’s too close to the bone for me. Also, let’s face it, there could be some top quality fudging of Kate’s stalker level pursuit of William. Totally sick making if it’s a St Andrews meet cute and then true love. Totally sick making times a hundred if her mother is seen as a benign influence. I’m relying on here to tell me how they handle that story line. Thanks very much in advance!

  14. Jaded says:

    Many of us here are old enough to clearly remember the gut-wrenching sadness we felt when the news broke of her death. I remember calling a close friend who adored Diana to tell her and we both sobbed over the phone. It was a dark, dark day and the lack of response from the BRF was chilling. I have a long memory as do others and I won’t watch this until I read the feedback here. If it whitewashes her death I’ll take a hard pass.

  15. Beverley says:

    Not watching this. The push to absolve the Queen and Charles from the torment they heaped upon Diana is so offensive. They orchestrated her death and would do the same to Harry and Meghan if they could. The fawning monarchist did a good job of making TQ and her heir sympathetic and humanized in light of their abuse of Diana, but a wretched job of smearing and ruining her last season. I won’t enrich him by tuning in this time.

  16. Aidee Kay says:

    I may or may not watch. I love Debicki as Diana but I can’t stand the humanization of Charles. Charles has behaved inhumanly to every member of his family save Camilla, his mistress-mother. I believe QEII had a warm heart, Prince Philip, or else Harry would not have kept in touch with them (and *only* them) after he left. But to show Charles as anything other than a cold-blooded, selfish, egotastic, fragile little man is simply a lie.

  17. Macky says:

    I hate how history is getting muddled. There are so many “royal book authors” that you can’t get a straight answer about anything. It’s no longer fun. In the past you get: someones truth, than someone else’s truth, than 100 years of lies, than every side of the truth, than bookseller lies. Now we are going straight to bookseller lies. Can’t trust a lot of the gossip.

    Example I want someone to go to Buckleberry and talk to someone. Lol. Like a morning show. No actors. Just some lady walking to the post office.

  18. kirk says:

    Loved S1-S2, gave it 5 stars on Netflix. By the time I finally finished S5, my rating fell to 3-stars. Hated Imelda Staunton as QEII. Hated the glow-up of Chuck. Hated the portrayal of Camela as innocent naif who didn’t mastermind her own kween PR. Hated the wasting of beautiful Elizabeth Debicki in the diminution of Diana. Top highlights of S5 involved the Spares: Anne telling Betty she’s “marrying Tim” (not asking), and Margaret reconnecting with Townsend, but best of all was watching Windsor burn.

    The Crown cannot improve, regardless of whether Morgan reads Spare or not – Morgan is bucking for a Holy Royal Promotion. Meanwhile its viewers, who were previously oblivious, have done our homework since homegirl Meghan was abused by BRFCo. From the 2009-2013 Kenya survivors’ lawsuit, we learned about the discovery of “300 boxes of previously unreleased files” and “new evidence illuminating the document destruction process…revealed how British officials had culled and burned files on the eve of decolonization” (Caroline Elkins, ‘Legacy of Violence’). From multiple sources we’ve learned about royals’ penchant for hiding documents thereby frustrating historians and other truth seekers. From Norman Baker we’ve learned the queen requested funds to pay for the heating of Buckingham Palace from an account established to assist the poor in paying for their rent or heat. From multiple sources we’ve learned about monarch consent laws that exempt BRFCo from laws that apply to everyone else. From watching the Neverending Funeral coverage we’ve learned that BRFCo controls BBC, demanding private edits of publicly financed content. Etc., etc., etc., etc. Genie’s out of the bottle Morgan; good luck with the royal promotion.