The Crown Season 6 Part 1 review: The truth will out

❘ Updated: 2023-11-16T08:01:00

Diana and Dodi in The Crown Season 6 Part 1

Netflix

The moment many have said shouldn’t be fictionalized for television has finally arrived – and for the most part, Netflix should give themselves a pat on the back for The Crown Season 6 Part 1.

It’s almost pointless arguing whether or not the sixth installment should have been made. As The Crown crashes closer and closer to the present timeline, there’s been plenty of conjecture surrounding just how much of a historical deep dive is considered disrespectful. Season 6 Part 1 isn’t a television experience that is going to please everyone – and now it’s here, waiting for the world to digest it.

With that in mind, Season 6 is starting off with exactly the tonal shift that we’d expect. Season 4 remained the Queen’s tale with other Royal members in the interim, Season 5 switched to Charles and Diana’s joint debacle, with Season 6 resulting with the focus left firmly on Diana. Remaining as true on screen as it did in real life, this focus is almost unbearable to watch, squirming Diana (Elizabeth Debicki) out of any nook of comfort she has left.

In a way, that’s exactly the position that we still find ourselves in. Sure, many won’t find The Crown Season 6 Part 1 to be life-changing television, but the fascination with the Princess of Wales continues nonetheless. We feel incredibly connected to her, yet are distanced by the one-of-a-kind treatment she was subjected to. If anything, The Crown is starting to hold up a mirror to the complicit truth, even if it does create a few gripes along the way.

Diana’s story is laid bare

The Crown Season 6 Part 1 is all about Diana, which in itself has caused contention. Back when the series was still in the planning phases, writer and close friend Jemima Khan publicly cut ties with production over the direction they intended to take Diana’s story. Looking at the finished product, it’s difficult to see how an outside eye could have done a better job of presenting facts wrapped up in tormented fiction.

These 4 new episodes mark potentially the first time there’s been an equal level of ‘blame’ shouldered by multiple parties – meaning in turn that this is the closest we’ve come to getting accountability from all sides. Reliving such a recent part of history is a painful experience, with Debicki’s performance incredibly blurring the line of reality. During key emotional moments, it takes a conscious effort to bear in mind that it isn’t actually Diana on screen, with production detail keeping a keen eye on factual distinctions. The whole operation hinges on the commitment to the Princess of Wales, which across the board is almost astonishing.

There’s very little in the way of sugar-coating the play-by-play fallout and aftermath, with fictionalized scenes not over-dramatizing what might have been for the sake of sensationalism. Are Diana’s final weeks something that needs to be dissected? Probably not, but here they are. In being created, viewers are likely to have their opinions reframed and challenged, with a colossal dose of empathy pouring from script, scene, and performance.

The rest of the Royals aren’t as solid

Imelda Staunton in The Crown Season 6 Part 1

Where Diana and Dodi Fayed (Khalid Abdalla) excel, the same often can’t be said for the rest of the Royals. Imelda Staunton’s take on the Queen feels neither like a factual match-up nor a rogue take on her spirit, instead settling on what might be construed as Dolores Umbridge in a wig. Dominic West has the opposite problem, making Prince Charles into a man who is almost too charismatic to be recognizable. Together, the Royal family around Diana feels fragmented – which is actually a shrewd, yet unintentional, observation.

Though these gripes are obvious, they arguably aren’t things that can be attributed to Season 6 Part 1. Instead, Season 5 bears the brunt of these misgivings, with performance criticism remaining old news. There’s also a question mark hanging over where The Crown will go from here. With 6 episodes left, the pinnacle moments of British history in the 1990s have now been crossed, with events in the years that followed paling in comparison to the international mourning we still see now. Perhaps Season 6 will continue to try and make amends and sit in uncomfortable feelings, doing the work that the actual world has never been able to resolve.

The Crown Season 6 Part 1 review score: 4/5

Regardless of personal opinion, there’s no getting away from the fact that The Crown Season 6 Part 1 is a well-condensed version of the biggest widescale turmoil the Royal family has ever seen.

Elizabeth Debicki can move on with the knowledge that she gave fictional Diana everything she needed to stay in the hearts and minds of viewers, while the overall production has successfully teetered the balance between tasteful and probing. As the saying goes, the truth will out, with The Crown offering the external lens needed to look on with fresh eyes.

The Crown Season 6 Part 1 is available on Netflix from November 16th. Catch up with more of our coverage below: