Now Crown recreates the Ritz Hotel in Paris... where Diana spent her last night
IT’S already faced criticism over the decision to depict Diana’s death in such detail.
And now more pictures have emerged from the set of The Crown showing the set built to recreate her final evening.
Photos show the facade of the Ritz Hotel in Paris – where the princess had been before the fatal accident.
It also shows a black Mercedes similar to the one the late royal crashed in, two French police cars and a hearse thought to have been used during filming. The structure, recreated at Elstree Studios, was built next to replicas of Buckingham Palace and No 10 Downing Street.
Diana and Dodi Fayed had been travelling in a black Mercedes from the Ritz when they died in the early hours of August 31, 1997. Netflix has previously insisted the ‘ exact moment’ will not feature in the sixth series but in October filming took place near the Alma tunnel – the scene of the crash.
Two months later Australian actress Elizabeth Debicki, who plays Diana, was swarmed by fake paparazzi as she recreated the royal’s final hours outside the Ritz Hotel. Ms Debicki was dressed in
an identical grey suit and wore sunglasses. Royal biographer Angela Levin previously told the Daily Mail that the filming of scenes near where Diana died was ‘hurtful’ and ‘unnecessary’.
And Diana’s astrologer and friend Debbie Frank said it was ‘insensitive’ and would be ‘obviously terrible’ for the princess’ sons, William and Harry.
It was also reported that Ms Debicki had been made to lie in an open casket as a deceased Diana. And show bosses were condemned for an alleged re-enactment of the princess on an operating table surrounded by blood-soaked doctors battling to save her life. Scenes recreating her funeral were last year filmed in secrecy at a disused RAF base.
The royal drama has continued to stoke controversy over inaccuracies. One contentious scene in series five saw Prince Charles, played by Dominic West, lobbying prime minister John Major, played by Jonny Lee Miller, in an attempt to force his mother’s abdication.
Netflix has defended the series claiming it is a ‘fictional dramatisation’ and recently added a disclaimer to the shows summery.
Series six will be released later this year.