The Crown executive producer Suzanne Mackie responds to criticisms surrounding the scenes of Elizabeth Debicki’s Princess Diana appearing after her death to have conversations with Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles, telling The Hollywood Reporter that the idea of it being a ghost is “misunderstood.”
How did The Crown’s executive producer respond to the Princess Diana criticisms?
Asked whether there was anything about the Netflix hit that she wanted to clear up, Mackie mentioned Diana’s posthumous appearances and responded: “One never wants to sound defensive, and I’m too long in the tooth and philosophical about it, but I’d say the thing that might’ve been slightly misunderstood was the ghosts, because they were never intended as ghosts. I think for anyone that’s experienced sudden grief, or grief generally, and the intensity of grief, the realization that someone is simply not there anymore is so hard to comprehend. You feel a need, and indeed even therapists would encourage a conversation with that person. I think the essence of Diana was so strong; she was such a life force that it was incomprehensible that she simply wasn’t there anymore.”
Mackie discussed how series creator Peter Morgan came to write those scenes, saying: “Peter wrote it very spontaneously. I remember it so well, where we were and what I was doing, and he shared it with a couple of us, and I read it in the spirit of what I think was intended. It was Prince Charles having a conversation out of sheer guilt and the intensity of shock. He almost wanted Prince Charles to be able to say, ‘I’m sorry,’ and ‘goodbye.’ So I understood what Peter was writing. I think we all understood it, and certainly, the actors understood it.”
The executive producer concluded by addressing the misunderstanding over Princess Diana being a ghost: “I think somehow the word “ghost” was misunderstood and it, therefore, would be very easy to think, “well, that’s a bit of a cheap gimmick,” and yet it was so the opposite,” she said. “It was written from a place of deep connection to Peter, who has lots of this experienced grief. Peter always writes from a very deep place within himself. He never writes casually; he never writes superficially. It’s always very connected into something he would feel profoundly aware of. So it felt like we were having our nose rubbed into something that wasn’t intended.”
In reviews and discussions of The Crown season 6, the posthumous Princess Diana scenes were criticized for a variety of reasons. Many reviews cited the fact that it was misguided to have Diana appear as a pseudo-PR manager, guiding Elizabeth and Charles on how to respond to her death. More generally, it was argued as a failed attempt to manufacture closure and sympathy for the royal family.
“As The Crown enters a new decade, Prince William starts at University in St Andrew’s, determined to lead as normal a life as possible while he still can,” reads the synopsis. “Also beginning life as a University student is Kate Middleton from Berkshire. As the pair meet for the first time on campus, a new romance and a new future for The Crown begins.”
Along with Debicki, the season 6 cast included Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth II, Lesley Manville as Princess Margaret, Jonathan Pryce as Prince Philip, Dominic West as Prince Charles, Olivia Williams as Camilla Parker Bowles, Khalid Abdalla as Dodi Fayed, Bertie Carvel as Tony Blair, Luther Ford as Prince Harry.
The Crown is created and written by Morgan. He also executive produces with Mackie, Andy Harries, Stephen Daldry, Matthew Byam Shaw, and Robert Fox.
All episodes of The Crown are available to stream on Netflix.
