The Crown builds to a conclusion by revving Diana's last days and sidelines the Royal story

For those of us born before the turn of the millennium, it would be hard to forget the period of public mourning following the sudden death of Diana. The Princess of Wales got a moving musical tribute by Elton John–Candle in the wind–as British people nearly revolted against the Royal family for their aloofness around her death. 

The British Royals remain a global fascination. Be it Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s break from them, or their subsequent supposed revelations on a tepid docu-series Harry and Meghan (2022), their lives continue to stoke global interest. This is why Harry’s book, Spare, has become a bestseller worldwide. 

Similarly, Omid Scobie’s upcoming book, Endgame, which releases on November 28, and is supposed to be packed with internal dynamics of the Royal family today, is highly anticipated.

Queen Elizabeth, a constant presence in the public’s image of Great Britain, is dead. Yet many devour details of the family’s tiffs, conflicts, and photographs. Beyond being a huge tourist attraction for anyone who visits Britain, there’s little political or diplomatic value in a polarised post World War 2 universe, and this family has limited credence even with the United Kingdom. 

But for makers of The Crown, whetting the appetite around constant scrutiny of Princess Diana’s life seems to have become a failsafe as the Royal story loses its sheen. 

The first part of season 6 of The Crown is mostly focused on Diana, and sidelines the Queen and the Royal family. What began as a brilliant re-telling of the struggles of young Queen Elizabeth with a short-tempered Prince Phillip in seasons 1 and 2, fades out in the latest season. 

Claire Foy as Elizabeth and Matt Smith as Phillp have delivered intense performances of growing into their roles as faces of an evolving monarchy that had to survive rather than flourish. In seasons 3 and 4, Olivia Coleman, as Elizabeth, dealt with a script with limited dramatic potential, and Tobias Menzies as a mature Phillip was convincing. 

Prince Margaret, the entertaining and rebellious sister, whose life is spent perennially on the sidelines, has been a genuine value addition to this story of protocols and personal fights. Vannesa Kirby was stunning and magnetic in the first two seasons; and in seasons 3 and 4, Helena Bonham Carter brought her signature flourish. In seasons 5 and 6, Leslie Manville has brought a grown-up, controlled side to Margaret. 

In more ways than one, each member of the royal family has had to compromise in their personal life, making space for rules rather than love. Ultimately, it backfired with Charles and Diana. 

The queen’s ways of dealing with the unpredictable element of human emotion makes for fascinating viewing. Therefore, the focus on Diana and Dodi, her life after divorce, which is already documented widely, is just a populist measure to get viewership. 

The success of The Crown rests on its discomfort for the monarch. To watch a young woman newly married and ill-adjusted to the constant need of social appearances as the British monarch, flourish into a symbol of political consistency in a shaky post-war democracy, has been a delight. The series offers genuine insight on the Queen’s functioning and the rules and protocols the Royals are forced to follow in leading their lives. 

In its final season, actor Elizabeth Debicki, who plays the role of Diana, is the dominating character in the narrative. She is drop dead gorgeous, pitch perfect in getting Diana’s mannerisms, even her low voice, right. 

Dominic Cork is effective as Prince Charles. Having said that, the paeans of praise woven into dialogue around Diana’s achievements, or the speech-like arguments of Charles with his stolid parents that won’t grieve in public, feel obvious. No one needs to restate that she is the people’s princess. Certainly not a ghost–a storytelling tool used in its latest four episodes that feels out of place.

The bits around her relationship with the gentle Dodi Fayed are imagined, for no one can quite confirm how committed they were before the night of their tragic car crash. While it underlines the element of prejudice that an Arab man of wealth and success faced from the British institution, it doesn't question why Diana was a single-handed money-making factor for Western media.

After her death, countless people flocked to grieve for her outside Buckingham Palace. How many of them regularly watched her photos or paparazzi videos of her? 

Imelda Staunton, as the ageing queen, does get her moments to shine, with subtle dialogue, ruing Diana as “Oh…that girl!” 

Peter Morgan, who has taken on the bulk of the writing in this season, goes to great lengths to establish that the Queen never disliked Diana. But Staunton, a consistent and respected actor, should have had more to do in her own story in this show. 

Heightened with layers of subtle gloss reflective of Britain’s royal family and their plush life, The Crown has filled the void of information between paparazzi shots with staid appearances by the Royal family. With fiction adapted from reports (or hearsay) of the Royal family’s life, it offers a structure around their lives and gives a convincing explanation of the changes within this rigid familial structure. That’s why it has become a perennial success on OTT everywhere. 

British Royalty lives in stunning comfort and wealth. They make it a point to downsize their privilege in public, but it is all too obvious to see. Their lives make for salacious gossip and conversation. 

The Crown, filmed and styled magnificently, gives a detailed and descriptive inside look at what their lives might be like on a daily basis. No wonder it remains a permanent hit. But that alone doesn’t make it the best or most qualitative viewing experience.