The Crown Season 6’s Take On Diana’s Death Makes This Oscar-Winning 2006 Movie Even Better

Netflix’s The Crown has finally covered its most anticipated event with the death of Princess Diana, and in the process, it has also improved another movie’s take on the same subject. Created by Peter Morgan, The Crown follows the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, beginning with her ascension to the throne in the wake of her father’s death to the events of the early 2000s. The historical drama’s sixth and final season is split in two parts, with the first part focused entirely on the tragic passing of Princess Diana (Elizabeth Deblicki) in 1997.

Although seeing how Peter Morgan’s The Crown grapples with Princess Diana’s death has been highly anticipated, similar events have been depicted on screen before. Given the similarities, this could place The Crown and other depictions of Princess Diana’s death in competition with one another, with The Crown potentially being seen as an attempt to redo previous projects centered on the tragedy. However, instead of trying to outdo other titles, The Crown season 6 part 1 shines a spotlight on a 2006 movie’s different approach.

The Crown Season 6 Essentially Remakes The Queen

The death of Princess Diana was easily one of the most anticipated storylines of Peter Morgan’s The Crown, but it’s not the first time that the showrunner has explored the event. In fact, Morgan had already provided a version of the tragic passing of “the People’s Princess” in 2006’s The Queen, which he was the screenwriter for. Similar to The Crown season 6 part 1, the movie The Queen explores the reaction of the Institution to Princess Diana’s death, particularly in the event’s highly emotional aftermath.

Covering Princess Diana’s death was an inevitable plotline for the show, given the The Crown season 6’s timeline. However, The Crown season 6 part 1’s choice to devote its four episodes to the leadup and aftermath of Diana’s death means that it is essentially remaking The Queen’s plot. This choice places pressure on The Crown to follow up the award-winning The Queen, as the Netflix show runs the risk of both burying the original movie’s triumphs and failing to do something new with the storyline. Though The Crown season 6 has avoided these pitfalls for the most part, it’s difficult not to view the recent season as an attempt to redo The Queen.

How The Crown’s Take On Diana’s Death Compares To The Queen’s

On paper, it’s undeniable that The Crown season 6 part 1 and The Queen tell the same story, and thus, it is inevitable that the two Peter Morgan projects will have some similarities. The Crown and The Queen make the smart decision to skirt controversy by not depicting Diana’s death, instead documenting the tragedy’s aftermath and how the Royals react to the event. In both, Imelda Staunton and Helen Mirren’s versions of Queen Elizabeth are staunch in their decisions to stick to protocol and refuse to address Diana’s death publicly, ignoring requests from her Prime Minister and Prince Charles.

Outside the premise, The Crown and The Queen focus on different aspects of Princess Diana’s death. The Queen centers on Tony Blair’s response to the tragedy and the Queen’s lack thereof, with the Prime Minister pushing Elizabeth to address her subjects’ grief. Netflix’s depiction in The Crown places emphasis on the Royal family’s personal grief (namely Charles’), minimizing Blair’s presence to a single scene in the episode 4, “Aftermath.” Rather than Blair, The Crown suggests that Elizabeth’s mind changes because of Charles’ insistence and a confrontation with the ghost of Princess Diana. Blair’s shrunken role in The Crown is a sharp contrast, demonstrating its intention to do something different than The Queen.

The Queen Is Even Better After The Crown Season 6

Rather than being eclipsed by The Crown season 6’s take on Diana’s death, the Netflix show actually makes The Queen even better. The heightened emotion and emphasis on different players in The Crown makes The Queen’s nuanced storytelling and modernity vs. tradition themes come across even better in retrospect. In particular, the dynamic between Michael Sheen’s Tony Blair and Helen Mirren’s Queen Elizabeth is even more enjoyable, considering the former’s relative absence in The Crown. The Crown and The Queen’s distinct approaches to Diana’s death serve as complements to each other, shining light on both the emotions and duty surrounding the event and providing a more holistic perspective.