The British Royal Family ‘suffers’ to this day with Diana Spencer’s authenticity, even 26 years after her death, aged 37, in a car accident in Paris. The 106 years of the Windsor Dynasty experienced several tumultuous moments, one always surpassing the other in drama. 87 years ago, a King abdicated in the name of love, something they thought was unparalleled. His great-niece, Margaret, involved the world in another impossible love story when she fell in love with a divorced man, without the right to a happy ending. The current King, Charles, was prevented from marrying the woman he loved so he could have a perfect bride – a 19-year-old primary school teacher – and publicly live an unhappy marriage until he got a divorce, a year before becoming a widower. Is anyone still surprised by the soap opera success of The Crown?

The first episodes of the final season of the Netflix series were released on November 16th, following where it left off and reliving one of the most memorable moments in the entire history of the British Monarchy: the death of its most popular princess. I swear it’s unbelievable that even after more than a quarter of a century later, so many books, documentaries, and controversy, Princess Diana‘s death is so emotional. And is. Young Emma Corrin surprised us two years ago with a young Diana, collecting awards and becoming a star, but Elizabeth Debicki is Diana’s incarnate. It makes you nervous! I doubt that if you are from the generation that grew up following the legend of Diana, you will be able to get through the episodes without crying.

The sixth and final season of The Crown is one of the most curious, after all, it was with the film The Queen, in 2006, that Peter Morgan explored the days after Diana’s death and how it impacted the reign of Elizabeth II, scratching the Queen’s popularity and even reigniting republican sentiments. Elizabeth not only turned things around, but she became one of the longest-lived and most popular monarchs in the world, finally leaving her daughter-in-law’s shadow and resuming her hierarchical position in pop culture. We can argue that the Netflix series, which came 10 years after the film, it is an extension of The Queen, so much so that it was born as a project to be a feature film and became a six-season series. And precisely the final season, covering the same period as the film that won Helen Mirren an Oscar, is another vision of a historical moment.

If in season 5, we saw how Diana (Elizabeth Debicki) and Charles (Dominic West) divorced, now we meet her again in the last – and intense – weeks of her life. Diana’s loneliness is something The Crown highlights all the time. Her public life was short, just 16 years, and it meant an incredible change from royal tradition. The series, although they still insist on saying otherwise, is not a documentary, but rather a fictional biography. The facts are there, the period reconstruction is perfect, but there is still a lot of imagination and less of reality.

Whether due to changing times, or fear of displeasing the new King, the series avoids offending the living even more than the deceased. Some of what is reported in the tabloids takes on another perspective, almost sympathetic, and can be confusing for those who like polarity. For example, while in the 2006 film, Charles is clearly ridiculed as a vain man trying to ride on his ex-wife’s popularity, he is now a more sensitive man, who wants Diana’s happiness as much as he fought to have his own alongside Camilla (Olivia Williams). The parallel between their stable relationship while Diana never knew true love is one of the most moving parts for fans of the series or experts on the Royal Family.

There is a basic explanation for the narrative adjustment in comparison to the film The Queen and The Crown. The film was about the person of Elizabeth II and how she struggled to adjust to modernity and Diana’s popularity. The Netflix series is about the Institution of Monarchy, and how a young Elizabeth was thrown into the challenge of governing a nation as powerful as the United Kingdom, even though she was only 25 years old. Over time, we see her hesitate, learn, surprise herself, and reach a stage where she simply is the Crown. We also saw Charles’ long wait from another perspective. After years of looking at him from Diana’s resentful perspective, it is surprising to see someone presenting him as a person marked by time, frustrated at not having autonomy even over his private life and yes, let’s see how all the pain and social repression impacted William, who is being shaped for the Throne, eventually.

In life, and in the documentary narrated by herself, we saw how Diana was in love with her two children – “the boys” – and had a special connection with her firstborn. In The Crown, given what we know today about the fragility of the relationship between two brothers, Peter Morgan erases

the false perception of a deep friendship between William and Harry, but, as he warned, William has a greater role because he is the heir to the Crown and future King and Harry’s existence, in his words, is a satellite in relation to his brother. In the episodes already released, he is highlighted, but there will be more.

The released episodes are really about Diana and her premature death. And her shadow over the Windsors, is represented in some scenes as a spirit or imagination of Charles and Elizabeth II, something I’m still trying to decide if it’s good. It’s the way Peter Morgan gives us some messages. Gone are the days when he even considered not including Diana in the series. Ever wonder?

So, if you haven’t seen the first part of the final season yet, enjoy the weekend. It’s worth every moment, even to give God, once again, to the Princess who truly belongs to the people and who, in fiction or in the real world, still mobilizes so many fans and so many emotions. Clearly, a performance that could generate awards for Elizabeth Debicki, an unforgettable Diana.

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