This post (The Crown season 6 episode 1 recap) contains spoilers.
After seven years on our screens, plenty of acclaim and no little controversy, we come to the end. Well, the beginning of the end, because this is just the first helping of a 10-part final series.
Yet with one of the most momentous periods in recent royal history set to play out in the next four episodes, it should be quite a ride.
Here's our recap of what happened in The Crown season 6 episode 1...
'We need an ambulance now'
We open in Paris, just before midnight on 31st August 1997, with a local man taking his dog for a late night walk in view of the Eiffel Tower and across a bridge over the River Seine, when he notices a dark Mercedes speeding along a deserted main road towards the Pont de l’Alma tunnel.
The car is driving erratically and soon afterwards the dog walker hears an awful crash as a car horn cuts through the night air, blaring hopelessly. As he calls for an ambulance, a host of photographers on mopeds speed past and into the tunnel. A few seconds later they will arrive at the scene of the car crash that claimed has the lives of Princess Diana, Dodi Al-Fayed and their French driver, Henri Paul.
'When Diana talks, the world listens...'
We then rewind to earlier that summer, with the recently elected Prime Minister, Tony Blair and his family welcoming Diana and her two sons, Princes William and Harry, to his country retreat at Chequers. “You’re about to have a playdate with a future King,” Cherie Blair calls to her kids as she tells them to come down and greet their guests.
They all play a game of football in the grounds and Blair and Diana, who both seem to share a knack for understanding people, share a real connection.
Later on it’s clear that Diana has taken the opportunity to petition the Prime Minister in the hope he will advocate for her to receive a more prominent role in public life, similar to the one she once enjoyed while married to the Prince of Wales. “She has a lot to offer as a public servant,” says Blair during one of his audiences with the Queen later on, before referencing her excellent work for land mine charities. “When Diana talks, the world listens,” he says.
However Her Majesty seems unimpressed and reminds the Prime Minister that after turning her back on the royal family, as she believes Diana did, she must get used to her new role outside of the Royal Family.
‘Moo Moo..’
It’s clear the Queen still harbours some resentment towards Diana for the way her marriage ended, but she also seems determined not to let her own son off the hook for his part in the whole debacle.
As such, it seems she’s determined not to attend Camilla Parker-Bowles’ 50th birthday party, a set of circumstances that clearly vexes Charles greatly. He believes a public appearance from his mother at his partner’s party would do wonders for Camilla’s legitimacy in the eyes of the British public.
Meanwhile Mohammed Al-Fayed welcomes Diana and her boys to his luxurious holiday home in Saint-Tropez, introducing his children and partner to the former royal and her children. Later on he gets on the phone to his son Dodi and tells him to come to France as he has a “special guest”.
Dodi is in California and just a few weeks away from getting married to American model, Kelly Fisher, but that doesn’t seem to matter to Mohamed or “Moo Moo”.
'How can I give my approval when I don’t approve?'
After failing to receive an RSVP from his “mummy”, Prince Charles seeks his own audience with the Queen, whom he finds nursing a sick corgi. He asks her if she’s received their invitation and if she’ll be coming to Camilla’s shindig, but Her Majesty says she’s visiting a Rolls Royce factory in Derbyshire the following day and might need to get an early start. As excuses go, it’s right up there with “my corgi ate my homework”.
When Charles says that her attendance is important because it would show her approval for his match with Camilla, the Queen retorts “how can I give you my approval when I don’t approve” ... “Love?” comes the response from Charles, but she’s not having any of it and goes on to recount how he and Camilla are both divorced and broke up two marriages between them. Not happy marriages though.
Later on Charles has an unhappy debrief with his staff and public relations team, explaining that he thought the press might have given up on Diana after they were divorced, yet she’s still making plenty of headlines. However his team say they don’t believe all this press attention will be good for Diana in the end and that you should “never interrupt your enemy when they’re making a mistake.”
'A chance to finally make me proud...'
Dodi finally arrives on Al-Fayad’s yacht, Jonikal, in Saint-Tropez and is shocked to find the former Princess of Wales is there waiting for him. “I’ve put her on a plate for you!” says his father gallantly, before insinuating that women are the only thing he’s ever had a talent for, before describing Diana as a chance to “finally make me proud”. Some pep talk.
With those words still ringing in his ears, Dodi soon builds a connection with Diana, although it’s clear that William is still unhappy about the photographers who plague their every step and would rather sit inside playing Street Fighter. Classic teenager tbf.
Determined to draw him out of his shell, Diana takes a speed boat over to the waiting paparazzi and treats them to a few close-ups of her new swimming costume, before asking them to kindly leave her and her kids alone for a few days. We doubt they’ll keep to the agreement.
Meanwhile Dodi’s fiance, US model Kelly Fisher, is getting very suspicious about her man’s trip to Saint-Tropez and travels to the Mediterranean to join the fun. But Mohamed Al-Fayed won’t allow her on the same boat as Diana and Dodi, forcing her to stay on a smaller (but still very large) yacht.
Their wedding is just weeks away and Kelly’s intuition is telling her that something is very wrong, yet Dodi keeps travelling between the two yachts in a bid to keep all the plates spinning. It’s clear there’s only going to be one outcome as this love triangle comes crashing down.
'Manifestly happy...'
Yet the waiting press pack does remind Diana that it’s the day of Camilla’s 50th birthday and we immediately swap the warm sun of the Mediterranean for the rain-soaked skies of Britain.
During a speech, Charles talks about his partner’s "heroism" and reads an exert from Persuasion by Jane Austen, including the lines "unjust I may have been, but never inconstant". It’s not the most romantic thing we’ve ever heard, but we suppose it’s better than the tampon stuff we got last series.
The Queen might not be in attendance, but Princess Margaret is there to show Charles and Camilla her support. As someone who knows only too well the pain of being prevented from being with the person you love, we suspect she’s delighted to see Charles and Camilla enjoying themselves.
Later on during a phone conversation with her sister, Margaret explains how she’s never seen Charles so happy and so confident, suggesting that it’s no bad thing for him to be happy seeing as he’ll be the king one day. We get the impression the Queen considers the pursuit of happiness quite a selfish pastime.
That evening, Her Majesty discusses the whole situation with her husband, Prince Philip, who says the idea of her endorsing Charles’ relationship is inappropriate. Despite this, we get the sense the Queen is softening her stance. Has Princess Margaret melted her sister’s heart and secured for her nephew something that she was always denied?
Meanwhile, Charles is still furious about the press attention Diana is receiving and seems to reach new levels of obsession in this scene. “This is war!” he cries to his minions, before explaining that “Only total victory will do!” like some mad general from an old war movie. It’s clear Diana is still getting under his skin and he seems slightly unhinged to say the least.
However, he does receive a thoughtful call from his mother later that evening, in which she says she’s happy that he’s “so manifestly happy”. It’s clearly the first sign of a break in the dam, yet we feel the events of the next few months might cause the dam to be closed up for a few more years.
'Paris next week?'
Back in Saint-Tropez, it’s clear Dodi and Diana are building a connection, despite the ice cube prank she plays on him when he’s chatting to her son. Later on they share a deep and meaningful conversation, while she tinkles on the yacht’s grand piano.
He tells her his relationship is "complicated" and talks about why his father has brought him here. Diana says she knows exactly how he feels and explains how she learned to play the piano just for her own father and “even married the Prince of Wales to make him notice me”. She then tells him he must love his fiance or his father’s words wouldn’t cut him so deeply, but she’s kidding no-one. Their connection leaps off the screen, which is a big compliment to Elizabeth Debicki and Khalid Abdalla who play the lovestruck pair.
On the last night of their stay, the two families watch Jumanji starring the late Robin Williams (a fine choice). When it’s time to say goodbye, Diana explains that with the boys heading off to Balmoral, where she’s ‘persona non grata’, she’ll be alone for the rest of the summer. He tells her she’s welcome back in Saint-Tropez any time she likes.
She heads off on her speedboat, but when she gets home she finds her bedroom festooned with roses and a card that reads “Paris next week?” Now that’s romance. Take note Charles…
