The Crown's Princess Diana Death Scene is Allegedly 'Distressing' & 'Obscene'

The Crown is stirring up controversy once again. 

A new report in The Sun alleges that the Netflix series depicts Princess Diana's tragic death in the upcoming season with "distressing scenes". The streamer has so far promised it will not show the car crash that killed Diana in 1997, but crew members who have witnessed production claim otherwise. 

"They actually made Elizabeth [Debicki] climb into a coffin and play dead as Diana. Viewers will see a French priest administering the last rites for Diana as she is pronounced deceased," one witness claimed. "Prince Charles — played by Dominic West — enters the room and is in floods of tears. In his hysteria he notices that Diana is missing an earring. It is all he can focus on as grief envelops him... Charles tells French officials, 'You’ve got to find that earring. She loved that earring,' in terribly upsetting scenes."

Another witness alleged that "Viewers see her [Diana] lying on a table with medics frantically surrounding her.... They hired real surgeons for the scenes. Nurses are also seen around the lifeless body. There is blood everywhere — on the surgeons’ gowns and gloves, and on the door."

"The bosses went way over the top to chase ratings. Everyone was very uncomfortable doing the shoot. It is obscene and should be banned from broadcast," another continued. "There were conversations on set between cast members visibly upset at what they were being asked to do."

Cast and crew members of The Crown previously defended the series' depiction of such sensitive subject matter. "...it’s a heavy, heavy responsibility to get it right and something I think we all take pretty seriously," said Dominic West. A Netflix spokesperson also confirmed in October that "the exact moment of the crash impact will not be shown."

The Crown is streaming on Netflix. A premiere date for Season 6 has not been announced yet. 

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Jade Budowski is a freelance writer with a knack for ruining punchlines and harboring dad-aged celebrity crushes. She was previously a reporter/producer at Decider and is a member of the Television Critics Association. Follow her on Twitter: @jadebudowski.