Elizabeth Debicki has begun filming contentious scenes depicting Princess Diana’s final evening for “The Crown.”
The 32-year-old actress was spotted in Barcelona over the weekend wearing a grey suit and black top, the identical clothes worn by the queen hours before her death in a 1997 Paris tunnel automobile disaster at the age of 36.
She was also seen with Khalid Abdalla, 40, who portrays Egyptian film producer Dodi Al-Fayed, who was murdered with Diana’s driver in the car disaster.
Diana was recorded on CCTV footage at the Ritz Hotel wearing the gray suit the night she died.
Local media in Barcelona stated that “The Crown” will be filming the circumstances leading up to Diana’s tragic 1997 trip to Paris, during which she was killed in an underpass. According to the Catalan daily newspaper “El Periodico,” “The scene filmed is the fatal vehicle accident Lady Di endured.”
However, Netflix has stated that the crash itself would not be depicted in the series, stating, “The precise moment of impact will not be portrayed.”
Following the passing of Queen Elizabeth on September 8, production on the sixth season of the Netflix drama was briefly paused. However, the cast and crew have spent the previous several weeks filming across Europe.
It is believed that the series will also include Dodi in St. Tropez with Kelly Fisher, his ex-girlfriend who claimed she was to marry the son of Egyptian tycoon Mohamed Al-Fayed days after images of him on a yacht with the Princess surfaced.
The filming of Diana’s final night continues despite harsh criticism regarding the realism of “The Crown.”
Former British prime minister John Major has criticized a narrative in which King Charles plots to dethrone Queen Elizabeth, while Dame Judi Dench has urged for a “fiction” label to be placed on episodes, deeming them a “inaccurate and unpleasant portrayal of history.”