Filming for season 6 of the blockbuster Netflix drama series is currently underway in Paris, where they’re re-enacting one of the most tragic moments in British royal history – the death of Princess Diana.
Photos have emerged of filming taking place on location at the Place De La Concorde in the city’s eighth arrondissement, close to the site of the car crash that killed Diana on the 31st of August, 1997.
For those unfamiliar with the story, Diana and her partner Dodi Fayed died after a horrific car crash in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel after trying to escape the paparazzi. Henri Paul, their driver, was driving at twice the speed limit and was severely intoxicated. Fayed and Paul were pronounced dead at the scene, while Diana succumbed to her injuries later that evening.
It’s a deeply sad and controversial event in royal history – so a bunch of camera crews filming a Mercedes-Benz W140 S-Class being pursued by a flock of paparazzi on scooters in the middle of Paris in a recreation of the event is a rather shocking sight.
Thankfully, this is about as grim as filming will get: Peter Morgan, creator of The Crown, has made clear that the crash itself will not be filmed, and instead filming will only focus on the events immediately preceding and following the crash.
”It’s the run-up: the car leaving The Ritz after midnight with paparazzi in pursuit and then the aftermath with the British Ambassador to France swinging into action with the Foreign Office and then the subsequent constitutional aftermath,” a Netflix source told Deadline.
“We’ve been dreading getting to this point [of filming],” the source additionally explained, saying “it’s fair to acknowledge that there’s a certain anxiety; a palpable sense of being slightly on edge… There’s bombshell sensitivity surrounding this one.”
Netflix had previously paused production on series 6 of The Crown in honour of Queen Elizabeth II’s death on the 8th of September, with production resuming this month.
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The Crown, which covers the life and reign of Queen Elizabeth II, has proven to be one of Netflix’s most acclaimed as well as expensive TV series ever, having won 21 Emmys for its first four seasons as well as two Golden Globes against an estimated production budget of over US$260 million.
Seasons 5 and 6 will be the show’s final two seasons, with season 5 airing on the 9th of November this year and season 6 around the same time next year.
Imelda Staunton will play the Queen in seasons 5 and 6, with Dominic West as Prince (now King) Charles, Elizabeth Debicki as Princess Diana, Jonathan Pryce as Prince Phillip and Olivia Williams as Camilla Parker-Bowles.
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