Princess Diana's last days 'unbearable' - royal secrets at heart of The Crown
Elizabeth Debicki has spoken movingly about how challenging but amazing it was to play Princess Diana in her final days in The Crown.
The Aussie star, 33, said she had tried to enjoy the happy moments of Diana’s life before the profound sadness of her sudden death. Debicki reprises the incredible role for the final series of The Crown. The first four episodes are out on Netflix from November 16.
It covers Diana’s brief but blossoming romance with playboy Dodi Fayed, played by Khalid Abdalla, and their horrific deaths in a car crash in a Parisian tunnel. Days earlier Diana was relaxing on holiday, with her sons, on a yacht in the South of France. Debicki recalled: “We were in a really beautiful part of the world, so I constantly let that just wash over me. To try and relax.
“I know what’s to come, which was very demanding. I’m carrying this very profound sadness in me while I was shooting that. So, when I wasn’t doing that I let myself be very happy.” The couple are seen being chased by paparazzi but the action stops as their car drives into the darkness of the tunnel.
She said she had tried to enjoy the happy moments of Diana’s life before the profound sadness of her death (Netflix)The star said: “It was difficult to recreate. It was heavy and very manic, and incredibly invasive.” And being pursued, even if it was for a drama, felt all too real for Debicki and did not require much acting. She said: “You only have to be in that situation for a minute, before you realise it is completely unbearable.
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"You feel very trapped. It’s a really unpleasant experience. It’s really horrendous to have that many people yelling at you and wanting something.” Debicki was just seven when Diana and Dodi, who had been in a relationship for just six weeks, died but knows the heart-breaking scenes will bring back painful memories for many viewers.
She said: “I have a very distinct memory of watching the funeral as a kid and seeing the two princes, as I think everybody does. I didn’t really understand what was going on. My mother was devastated. People talk about the loss they felt – it was really like an incredibly luminous being was lost.
“I think trying to create that has been really an amazing experience. So, I guess I’ll miss that light.” The star, who splits her time between the UK and US, said her favourite scenes were with her screen sons. William was played by Rufus Kampa then Ed McVey, and Harry by Fflyn Edwards then Luther Ford.
She said filming the final scenes was 'heavy and very manic, and incredibly invasive' (Netflix)She said: “They’re really beautiful kids. They’re very smart, much smarter than me, and funny and very kind. I just desperately wanted them to love me.” Debicki has a fabulous wardrobe for the role but she particularly loved wearing a turquoise one-piece swimsuit specially made for her, which she wears sitting on a diving board.
“There was just something about that swimsuit and recreating that moment that felt very sacred, and it was very important we got it right.” For the yacht scenes, she tried to imagine how Diana would have felt, in the aftermath of her divorce.
“Because we know where the story is going, it felt important to make sure that there was real joy and happiness and lightness and genuine fun on the screen.” She appreciated just how cut off Diana was from the royals and her former life, following her divorce from Charles.
She said: “I think there was a huge amount of distance that had been very quickly put between her and them, and I don’t know whose doing that was.” Debicki said the series is “a combination of memory and real deep sadness and grief, and something that’s still very alive because obviously the family and the legacy continue to unfold in front of us. It’s very complicated”.
Diana and son William holidaying with Dodi Al Fayed (not pictured) in the summer of 1997 (WireImage)Imelda felt pristine returning as Queen
Imelda Staunton says she found it “more comfortable” playing the Queen for a second series, as the plot shows her struggle to cope with the public’s response to Di’s death.
She said: “I felt more grounded. It’s a luxury to keep with something so long. I’ve never done a long series before.”
She joked that wearing pristine outfits has made her fussier in real life: “I can’t go shopping any more. I’ve worn lots of costumes, but never had them so consistently immaculate.”
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Imelda, 67, was even given help perfecting the late monarch’s gait: “It made me walk, feel, sit, completely differently. It was so exciting.”
This was worst time of his life for Charles
Dominic West said Diana’s death was the worst period of his character Prince Charles’ life.
He explained: “There’s a lot of the scenes of Charles trying to come to terms... breaking the news to his sons and trying to help them mourn and having varying degrees of success at that.”
West, 54, said that he and Olivia Williams, 55, who plays Camilla, inset, used catchphrases to get into character. He said: “Before every scene, she’d go, ‘Modern democracy’ and I’d go, ‘Jolly old Britain’ and then we’d start the scene.
“So you get a sort of technique going and it becomes a lot easier.”
Of why he plays Charles so kindly, Dominic explained: “I like him and I admire him and I think he’s a good guy.”
I never thought I'd weep over a Royal
Jonathan Pryce, who plays Prince Philip, says he wept when he heard Diana had died in 1997 and again while working on the show.
Jonathan, 76, said of hearing the news: “It was the first time that I wasn’t in control of my emotions. Both my wife and I found ourselves quite weepy about it. I never thought I would cry over a member of the Royal Family.”
He said of filming: “The director of the episode surrounding Diana’s death put together a reel about that moment and we watched it in the hotel and I could not stop crying.
“Neither could the cameraman who’d filmed it, nor the director.”
The Crown season six, part one, streams on Netflix on November 16. The final six episodes will be released next month*
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