The Crown has released the first look at images of season six part one, which depict Princes William and Harry with their mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, in the weeks leading up to her death in 1997. The snaps, which were shared by Netflix, also include photos of Elizabeth Debicki, who plays Diana, on the superyacht with her boyfriend, Dodi Fayed - her final vacation before she was killed in a car crash in August 1997.
Speaking about the final season, Elizabeth Debicki, who portrays Diana, said: "I think it's a really unique challenge as an actor, to portray those days. I really just trusted in Peter's emotional blueprint that he created for us to follow. It's his interpretation and I think it made emotional sense to me, so I clung to that. Because, obviously, it's devastating and it's fraught and we can never know." Khalid Abdalla, who plays Dodi Fayed, added: “It's been the honour of my life to be part of this project, to be part of The Crown, and to play Dodi."
Dominic West, who plays Charles, explained: "I think he's got real sadness to him and real compassion and what's great about The Crown is that you see these public figures in private. I suspect in private he's quite emotional, well that's the way I played him anyway… I think, hopefully, what comes out is compassionate but relatively well-balanced. I talked to a lot of people who have met him because he's met a lot of people, he's met probably more than anyone except the Queen and Prince Philip. Almost everyone has extremely warm, kind things to say about him."
There is also a snap of Imelda Staunton as the late Queen, who looks deeply unhappy in the close-up shot. Speaking about letting go of the role, she explained: "I've been living with her for a long time so, if anything, I felt more comfortable this time. I love her stillness and her ability to not be thrown by everything that must have constantly - throughout her whole life - gone on around her."
The first-look images also show Salim Daw as Mohamed Al Fayed. "I adore this character," he told Netflix. "I love him so much and I enjoy portraying him because I love him. In this series, he is so human and he's so colourful. He's hard sometimes, very hard, funny, like a child - with his son he's sometimes very, very hard but he has plenty of love for his son and the audience will see that and will feel exactly what I'm talking about."
Fans won't have much longer to wait for the first half of the final season, which will land on the streaming platform on 16 November, with part two soon to follow with 14 December.
© Keith Bernstein/NetflixRoyally obsessed? Listen to the latest episode of our Right Royal Podcast for all the insider intel on the family...
