Princess Diana is played by Elizabeth Debicki for season five and the upcoming season six of The Crown. Photo / Netflix
The image of The Crown actress Elizabeth Debicki lying dead in a coffin as Princess Diana and gory scenes from a hospital theatre have sparked outrage from the late royal’s friends.
According to the Sun, Simone Simmonds, a friend of Diana’s, said: “This is sick, sick, sick. Can they get any lower?
“At this rate, why don’t they just go and dig up her grave.”
Simmonds slammed the yet-to-be-aired scenes for The Crown, season six, as “just ghoulish”.
They’re scenes Ken Wharfe, Diana’s former bodyguard, believes Prince William will find “repulsive” and that King Charles will be “appalled” by.
According to the Sun, Netflix crew members were also shocked by what they say is an insensitive script in which Diana’s tragic death following a car accident in Paris in 1997 is horribly depicted.
One crew member allegedly told the Sun it is hoped public outrage will persuade the show’s bosses to axe the “distressing” scenes.
“They actually made Elizabeth climb into a coffin and play dead as Diana,” they said. “Viewers will see a French priest administering the last rites for Diana as she is pronounced deceased.
“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.
“Diana’s two sisters then join Charles and there is wailing and more tears around the dead body in the open coffin.”
The crew member goes on to note that Diana’s children, Prince William and Prince Harry, “never saw their mother dead in a coffin and they shouldn’t have to watch this. Nor should the British public”.
They have accused the show’s creators as going “way over the top to chase ratings. Everyone was very uncomfortable doing the shoot. It is obscene and should be banned from broadcast”.
And in another scene allegedly filmed for season six of the divisive royal drama series, Princess Diana is seen in a hospital theatre “her 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 crew member tells The Sun.
They said fellow cast members were “visibly upset at what they were being asked to do”.
“Many believe a fuss must be made to protect Wills and Harry in particular from more upset.”
Meanwhile, Netflix has insisted the scenes of the Princess of Wales’ final moments were being handled with the “utmost respect and care” but, according to The Sun, declined to comment further.
'Unfortunately, my path to recovery is taking longer than expected.'