This post (The Crown season 6 episode 4 recap) contains spoilers.
News of Diana and Dodi's death reaches Balmoral, where Charles soon realizes the enormity of the situation, while the Queen's first instinct is a for somber reflection. Meanwhile, Mohamed Al-Fayed labors under the misapprehension that the tragedy might bring him and the Windsors closer together.
Yet it's only when the ghost of Princess Diana appears to Her Majesty — in what must be the most controversial scene of the show's six season run — that she finally gives in to public pressure and comes to London.
Here's our recap of what happened in The Crown season 6 episode 4...
'It’s the embassy in Paris…'
It’s the middle of the night in Scotland and a phone rings in the office of Balmoral. The terrible news of Diana’s car crash is finally broken to the Queen and Prince Philip, while Charles has already been informed by his press secretary.
Mohamed Al-Fayed has also received a late-night call telling him his son died instantly in the car crash and demands to be taken to the scene of the collision. When he gets there the road is strewn with emergency vehicles and on-lookers. From there he heads to the morgue, where the body of his son Dodi Al-Fayed lies, and lets out a scream of anguish as he gazes down at his beloved boy.
Meanwhile, in another emergency room, it’s just past 4am when a surgeon emerges with a grim look on his face. It’s clear Diana has also died from injuries sustained in the car accident and a host of medical staff look on tearfully as the scene fades.
The news of her death finally filters through to Balmoral, where the Queen, Prince Philip and Prince Charles are watching the rolling news coverage. Charles is overcome with emotion, while the Queen also seems deeply moved.
'This is going to be enormous...'
Later that morning Charles talks to Camilla on the phone, pondering why Diana changed her plans and what caused the accident, in a deeply moving but futile attempt to try and process his grief. Yet worse is to come, as he must then tell his two children their mother has died.
“This is going to be enormous, people have no idea,” he tells Camilla. “It’s going to be the biggest thing that any of us has ever seen,” he adds, before waking his sons to tell them the news. He doesn’t hug his two children — a part of the script that was changed after the publication of prince Harry's book — yet he does manage to lay a hand on their shoulder.
However while Charles has grasped the enormity of Diana’s death, his parents certainly haven’t. So when he requests that an airplane of the Queen’s flight be made available to bring his ex-wife’s body home, they refuse, saying that the plan was for royal deaths only and that things need to be done “by the book”. Charles responds by asking if they’d prefer the body of the mother of a future King to be brought home in a Harrods van. It’s a powerful line, which highlights how insensitive their protocol seems in such unprecedented times.
Prince Philip then suggests that the entire family must attend church, before the Queen requests that no mention of Diana’s death be made. But will ignoring their mother’s death help Princes William and Harry?
'You were always the most beloved of all of us'
There are tears at the church, yet Charles must then depart Scotland for Paris, where he’s been tasked with bringing Diana’s body back to Britain. He is grief-stricken when he finally sees her and his feelings are shared by the people of Paris, who line the streets to pay their respects as her coffin passes. It’s a touching moment that shows Charles just how deeply Diana’s death will be felt in the days and weeks to come.
Yet he gets to speak to Diana one last time on the flight home, when her ghost appears to tell him what a comfort it was to see him at the hospital and his tears are something she will take with her.
He talks of regret and she talks about how much she loved him and how easier it will be for everyone now she’s gone, as tears roll down both of their cheeks. It’s an uncomfortable scene and one which might go down in history as the moment The Crown jumped the shark.
'Returned without acknowledgement...'
Mohamed al-Fayed’s secretary tells him some of Diana’s possessions have been retrieved from Dodi’s apartment, including a poem engraved on a silver plaque. He takes it as evidence that their love was “for the ages” before sharing his misguided belief that they were engaged to be married. In truth, Diana rebuffed his proposal.
Moo Moo then asks someone to write to the Royal family and the Spencers, saying he will be their brother in sorrow, before heading to the Central London Mosque for his son’s funeral, which must be completed within 24 hours of death, according to Muslim law.
Later on, he's surprised to find he has received no response from the Royal Family, despite sending gifts and flowers. The silver plaque he sent to be placed in Diana’s coffin has also been unceremoniously returned "without acknowledgment".
However when a vision of Dodi appears on the other side of the desk, he tells his father not to take it personally and that he shouldn’t put the West on a pedestal. Mohamed then goes on to ask whether he had unfair expectations of his son and asks forgiveness, while Dodi asks forgiveness for failing him.
'We can't have it both ways...'
When Charles gets back to Balmoral the Queen and Prince Philip have just finished a call with the Spencer family and explain how they’ve removed all the TVs from the house. Charles tells them that they really need to keep an eye on the mood of the nation.
“You insisted on divorce” says Prince Philip, rather unfairly ignoring the fact that he and the Queen kind of "insisted" that he marry a woman he didn’t love. They say Diana’s funeral is now a matter for the Spencer family and that a small, private ceremony would be the ideal option. Charles tells them how strongly he doesn’t agree, while Prince William listens at the door.
Charles goes on to recount his experiences in Paris and suggests the British people will expect the Queen to be “mother to the nation”. But it’s clear his mother isn’t for moving. “We can’t have it both ways,” says Charles. “We can’t be a private family when we want to be and a public one when it suits us.” Arguing that William must face the cameras and honor his mother.
'Show us you care...'
At Downing Street, Tony Blair says opinion is coalescing around a public funeral as he speaks to the Queen over the phone. However when news arrives that Prince William is nowhere to be found, a full on search of the Scottish moorlands begins.
The grief-stricken Prince is wandering alone and when he finally decides to come home later that day, he shrugs off the attentions of his father and mother. It turns out he was out in the wilderness for 14 hours, which is a proverbial lifetime of solitude when you’re second in-line to the throne. We bet his security guards were having kittens.
The Queen believes it shows that maybe Charles was right and Diana’s death has unleashed a tsunami of grief across the nation. “Sensible adults are weeping in the streets” she tells Philip later that evening, before being told that sanity will soon prevail and she must “hold firm”. Yet it’s clear to the rest of her family that she has misjudged the mood and Charles tells Princess Anne the Queen is “unable to mother the nation as she was unable to mother us”. Ouch.
'We're going to London tomorrow...'
Charles visits his mother one last time to try and persuade her, yet in a jaw-dropping piece of scripting from Peter Morgan, it’s the ghost of Princess Diana who finally makes her see sense. “You’ve finally succeeded in turning this house upside down” says the Queen ruefully.
“You’ve taught us what it means to be British," replies Diana. "Maybe it’s time to show you’re ready to learn too.” It’s an enormously controversial scene that certainly won’t go down well at Buckingham Palace.
Back in London the Queen delivers a speech paying tribute to Diana from Buckingham Palace, before the funeral procession that sees Prince William and Harry following their mother’s coffin. “They’re crying for you” says Prince Philip of the crowds. The final scene sees the Queen kneeling by her bed to pray, finally allowing the emotion of recent weeks to wash over her.
