On the eve of its scheduled release on November 9, season 5 of
The Crown
has already had its share of controversy.
The sixth and final burst of episodes of the show could, however, prove to be even more “tumultuous”.
This is at least what Dominic West, the interpreter of King Charles III, predicted in the columns of
Deadline.
Season 6 of the program, which should not see the light of day before the end of 2023, will notably evoke the death of Lady Diana, which occurred in August 1997 in the context of a tragic car accident.
A bias that is not to everyone's taste.
The death of Lady Diana
Starting with the production team.
"Returning to Paris and turning Diana's last days and hours into a dramatic series is very uncomfortable," a member of
The Crown team said in a
Sun
article
, published October 16.
Before adding: “Some of the moments recounted in this season are still so fresh and overwhelming that it feels like a line has been crossed.”
Read also
The Crown
: this photo of Elizabeth Debicki wearing the same gray suit as Diana on the day of her death
In video, "Lady Diana died in an ordinary car accident", recalls Marion Galy-Ramounot
“Sensitivity, truth and complexity”
For their part, Netflix representatives have insisted that the program will not show "the exact moment of the impact of the accident" under the bridge of the Alma.
Elizabeth Debicki also assured, in an interview with
Entertainment Weekly
on October 18, that Peter Morgan, the creator of the show, as well as “the whole team”, were doing “everything possible” to approach this incident with “sensitivity, truth and complexity.
“Traumatized by criticism”
The screenwriter would, however, be “less and less comfortable” with the ambient controversy.
“The truth is that it was easier to write the previous seasons because, first of all, there is a mountain of archives.
And that there is a consensus on what happened.
You can be more concise without people finding it hurtful,” an anonymous source told the
Daily Mail
.
If the screenwriter once considered that season 5 would be the last of the show, he has since changed his mind.
He considers that the events need to be addressed in more detail.
Peter Morgan will, however, "no further" than season 6. "It's already uncomfortable enough as it is, explained a close friend of the playwright.
He is very traumatized by the criticism.
He did not lapse into sensationalism (…) He did not seek to tarnish the reputation of the royal family.”
In video, the improbable little dance of
The Crown
actors on set
Elizabeth Debicki in Spain
Several photos of the filming of season 6, which will cover the period extending from the mid-1990s to the beginning of the 2000s, have already leaked in the tabloids.
Elizabeth Debicki, the interpreter of Lady Diana, was thus immortalized on the set of the series in Barcelona, on Saturday October 22, when she wore a gray suit identical to that worn by the princess the night of her disappearance.
Photos of the actress, dressed in a red dress, wearing immaculate pumps and surrounded by those who play her two pre-adolescent sons, Harry (Will Powell) and William (Rufus Kampa), were also unveiled at the end of September by the
Daily Mail.
A springboard for young actors
But the one who will slip into Harry's skin a few years later has not yet been found.
Since September 27, Netflix has been looking for an interpreter for the teenage prince.
A thorny casting – to the point that the streaming platform now offers inexperienced actors, aged 16 to 20, to try their luck.
A springboard from which benefited Ed McVey, who will play William young adult but also Meg Bellamy, new interpreter of Kate Middleton.
Both had never had on-screen experience before.
In parallel, Imelda Staunton will resume in these new episodes the role of Elizabeth II, Jonathan Pryce that of Prince Philip, and Dominic West that of King Charles III.
The romance of Kate Middleton and Prince William
In addition to the death of Lady Diana, season 6 of the program will evoke the beginnings of the romance between Prince William and Kate Middleton.
Their meeting took place on the benches of Saint Andrews University, Scotland, in September 2003. The series could also address the Queen's Golden Jubilee, which took place in 2002, as well as the deaths of the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret, occurring in the same year.
This season should also evoke the relationship maintained by the queen and Tony Blair, Prime Minister of England from 1997 to 2007.
An “explosive” wedding scene
A salvo of episodes which should end with a sulphurous scene, if we are to believe
the
Sun.
Instead of ending with the dramatic events that occurred in the early 2000s, the producers would indeed consider concluding the series in an "explosive" way.
Understand, by the controversial marriage of prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles, celebrated in 2005.
Read also
The Crown will
end with a sulphurous wedding scene
"It's a small but significant change, because it marks the start of a new era, more focused on Princes Charles, Harry and William," an anonymous source told the tabloid.
Charles and Camilla's marriage is seen as the end of a turbulent period in Windsor history, and the beginning of a new era."
The Sussex journey
Season 6 will therefore not devote any episode to the “Megxit”, dated 2020, warned Peter Morgan.
"I think everything gets so much more interesting over time, he explained in the
Hollywood Reporter
, in August 2020. Meghan and Harry are in the middle of their journey, and I don't know what this trip has in store for them, or how. it will end.”
Before adding: “I hope they will be happy, but I am much more comfortable with the idea of writing about things that happened at least 20 years ago (…)” He Fortunately, you will have to wait less time to find out what season 6 of the series has in store.