The Crown fans are brought to tears watching the horror car crash that killed Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed: ‘The saddest day’
- The final series of Peter Morgan’s royal drama debuts on Netflix today
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The Crown fans were brought to tears as they watched Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed’s final moments.
The Netflix show recreated the fatal car crash in Paris that killed the couple in 1997 – right up until the point where their car entered the Pont de l’Alma tunnel.
The harrowing scene is played out at the end of episode three of the sixth and final season of the royal drama which landed on the streaming service this morning.
Diana ( Elizabeth Debicki ) and Dodi (Khalid Abdalla) get into a car outside the Ritz Hotel in Paris to return to the Egyptian film producer’s apartment. The car then accelerates through the streets of the French capital before entering the tunnel at high speed.
Viewers were sobbing watching the emotional scene unfold, with one penning: ‘I’ll never forget the day Diana died for as long as I live. The saddest day.’
Emotional: The Crown fans were brought to tears as they watched Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed’s final moments
Another said: ‘Currently sobbing, in tears, screaming at the first part of The Crown’
A third added: ‘The first scene of The Crown season 6 episode 1 is literally Diana’s accident – I can’t do this rn I swear, I’m crying within the first 4 minutes of the episode.’
One fan wrote: ‘The last phone call between Harry, William and Diana broke my heart’
It comes after Netflix stressed throughout production of series six that viewers will not see the crash which killed Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed. But the episode does play an audio of the fatal incident.
The depiction of events leading up to the very moment the crash happened will likely cause fresh anguish for the royal family in covering such a sensitive subject.
Speaking in a corridor ahead of their ill-fated final journey, Dodi asks Henri Paul – the deputy head of security at the Ritz – if the pair are safe to travel. Speaking in French, Henri explains that two staffers have taken a decoy vehicle, so the coast is clear for Diana and Dodi.
‘No one will see us leave, trust me,’ he tells Dodi.
But as the couple walk out to the Mercedes-Benz W140 they are flanked by paparazzi.
Awful: The Netflix show recreated the fatal car crash in Paris that killed the couple in 1997 – right up until the point where their car entered the Pont de l’Alma tunnel
As the couple walk out to the Mercedes-Benz W140 they are flanked by paparazzi
Viewers were sobbing watching the emotional scene unfold, with one penning: ‘I’ll never forget the day Diana died for as long as I live. The saddest day.’
Ominous music then plays as the driver asks Diana if she’s okay, before Dodi tell Henri – driving the vehicle – ‘allez’.
After the pair get into the car, very few words are spoken, but Diana and Dodi hold and squeeze each other’s hands.
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The car begins to speed through the streets and passes a pedestrian who is walking his dog – who looks a little taken aback by the speed of the vehicle.
Netflix has always insisted viewers will not see the crash in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel which killed Dodi and Henri Paul on impact and took Diana’s life a few hours later – however, the crash can be heard right at the end of episode three.
The series goes as far as to show the car entering the Pont de l’Alma tunnel as it speeds past the dog walker, in a clip that may shock some viewers.
The final series also depicts the aftermath of Princess Diana’s death as the royal family are told the news while at Balmoral.
In a moving scene, an aide breaks the news to the Queen (Imelda Staunton), Prince Philip (Jonathan Pryce) and Prince Charles (Dominic West) who are huddled around the television watching the coverage of the crash.
No words can be heard while the aide delivers the news – however Charles, visibly devastated, breaks down in tears on the sofa.
The Queen while stoic, can be seen holding back tears with a solemn look on her face.
Elsewhere in the first episodes of the final season, Princess Diana is depicted as anxious and frustrated on the last day she’s alive as she spends the day in Pris with Dodi. In one scene, she expresses her frustration as she tries to call her sons at Balmoral and is told she has ‘missed them’.
The clip begins with Diana walking out of a car into the Ritz hotel with boyfriend Dodi Fayed by her side. She is swarmed by paparazzi.
In the last moments of their lives, Dodi is shown in the back of the car with Princess Diana
The fourth episode in the final series of The Crown shows the Queen, Prince Philip and Prince Charles being told Diana has died in the car crash – at which point Charles breaks down in tears
Earl Spencer, Prince William, Prince Harry and Prince Charles follow the coffin to the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales on September 6, 1997
She then steps inside the hotel, where she calls Balmoral to speak to William and Harry.
‘Balmoral Castle ,’ the operator says.
‘Oh, it’s Diana calling for the boys,’ the Princess replies.
‘You’ve just missed them,’ the aide adds. ‘The princes waited for your call but have gone back out again. Maybe try again at dinner time’.
Diana then looks extremely anguished, silently mouths ‘f**k’ and scrunches up her face in anger. However, she does get to speak to the boys later on.
Other newly released clips include Charles’ despair over telling William and Harry their mother has died and Diana telling Dodi she’s a ‘persona non-grata’ at Balmoral.
The show will also depict the last time Prince William and Prince Harry spoke to their mother – but it will not be a true reflection of the conversation.
Henri Paul (Yoann Blanc) is shown. The driver died alongside Diana and Dodi
The show will also depict the last time Prince William and Prince Harry spoke to their mother – but it will not be a true reflection of the conversation. Rufus Kampa is pictured as Prince William
William and Harry are pictured with Diana in the months before her death
It comes after Princess Diana’s former butler claims series six of Netflix’s The Crown ‘has gone too far’ by recreating the final months of the late royal’s life.
Paul Burrell, 65, served as a footman for the late Queen before working for Diana as a butler for 10 years until her death in Paris in 1997.
Speaking to The Mirror, he said the current series is too close to recent history, thus opening old wounds for Diana’s close friends and family, including Prince William , 41, and Prince Harry , 39.
‘It still feels macabre to show the vehicle in which she died, it’s just gone too far,’ Paul said. ‘I find the whole scene of Diana’s death portrayed in a fictional TV show to be grotesque.’
Paul- who famously claimed he was Diana’s ‘rock’ following her acrimonious 1996 divorce from King Charles – urged viewers to watch The Crown with caution.
Paul, who believes the series has gone ‘too far’, urged viewers to protect the late princess’ legacy rather than fixate on her last moments.
Talking on ITV’s Lorraine show this morning, Burrell further shared his apprehension about the show, and admitted he is unable to watch the ‘graphic’ series.
He said: ‘I can’t watch that [series six of The Crown] it’s too graphic and too much. It’s going to upset a lot of people. I find this very difficult this series I don’t know if I can watch it.’
Former butler to Princess Diana (left), Paul Burrell (right) has slammed Netflix’s final series of The Crown. Above, the pair are pictured in London in 1994
Paul added: ‘I can watch the first few series because it’s so long ago, but now it’s too soon.
‘I am going to be critical. I do think the Princess was misunderstood. The Diana I knew was a fighter and she fought for her boys.’
But it wasn’t just Princess Diana that Paul believes has been misrepresented by the show.
‘I knew the Queen very well and I know she would not want to be portrayed like that’, he said.
‘She was warm kind loving gran, and she was the beating heart of our nation. I think she has been misrepresented.’
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