The cast and crew of The Crown are reportedly “on edge” about filming scenes surrounding the death of Princess Diana.
Filming for the sixth and final season of the hit Netflix show began in August, with actor Elizabeth Debicki portraying Diana following on from Emma Corrin.
“We’ve been dreading getting to this point,” a source of the production told Deadline.
“The countdown is two weeks and while we’re calmly carrying on it’s fair to acknowledge that there’s a certain anxiety, a palpable sense of being slightly on edge.
“I mean, there’s bombshell sensitivity surrounding this one,” they added.
Diana, Princess of Wales and her boyfriend Dodi Al-Fayed died 25 years ago in a car crash in Paris, causing global shock and upset.
The Crown will reportedly not recreate the collision itself, rather depicting the moments leading up to the crash and its aftermath.
“It’s the run-up,” said the source. “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.”
According to Deadline, season six of The Crown will include scenes showing the then Prince Charles, played by Dominic West, arriving to collect Diana’s body and bring her home to London.
It will reportedly also feature scenes of Mohamad Al-Fayed, portrayed by Salim Daw, enduring casual racism from French authorities after he took possession of the casket of his son, played by Khalid Abdalla.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Corrin – who played Diana in season four of the series – said: “We never re-create things just for the sake of re-creating them.”
She added: “They don’t follow any plotlines that don’t directly link to The Crown [because] everything actually has to feed back to the Queen. Even Diana’s plotline, it’s all about what she’s doing and the effect that that’s having on the Queen. That’s why it’s called The Crown.”
Season five of The Crown will be released on Netflix on 9 November.
