Prince Harry refuses to watch ‘The Crown’ and its Princess Diana death scenes
Prince Harry refuses to watch the new season of “The Crown,” which features the tragic death of his mother, Princess Diana, sources tell Page Six.
The final season of the Netflix hit portrays the last days of Diana amid her romance with film producer Dodi Fayed up until their deaths in a car crash in Paris on August 31, 1997.
The late princess (played by Elizabeth Debicki) is bizarrely depicted in some scenes as a ghost talking to her ex-husband, Prince Charles (Dominic West), and her mother-in-law, Queen Elizabeth (Imelda Staunton). Fayed (Khalid Abdalla) is also brought back as a specter.
Harry (Fflyn Edwards) is shown being woken up in bed and told the news his mother has died, with his older brother, Prince William (Rufus Kampa), watching on. The series also depicts the final conversation between Diana and Harry, who was 12 at the time of her death.
A source told Page Six: “Due to the sensitive nature of content in upcoming episodes of ‘The Crown,’ Prince Harry has understandably decided not to view this season.”
Harry has often talked about the grief he suffered following his mother’s loss, and how his mental health was affected.
Royal onlookers have questioned how Harry — who, along with his wife, Meghan Markle, has a multi-million dollar deal with Netflix — could work with the streamer in light of “The Crown.”
But the source insisted: “There are no ill feelings towards the show’s creators or Netflix.”
We’re told the Sussexes were “not consulted by anyone affiliated with the series or Netflix,” and were not sent storylines or advance episodes for approval or discussion. Harry’s estranged brother, William, has also made it clear to sources that he will not watch “The Crown.”
Meanwhile, reports that friends would watch the show for Harry, 39, were dismissed as nonsense.
The first four episodes of Season 6 were released Thursday, with the remaining six to stream December 14.
But the show has already come under fire.
Royal scribe Sally Bedell Smith wrote in the UK’s Daily Telegraph of a scene with Dodi proposing to Diana the night they died: “There is no indication whatever that Dodi actually proposed, although he may have intended to with the ring he purchased.”
Bedell Smith added: “All the signals Diana sent in the days before Dodi and Diana died showed that she had no interest in marrying Dodi. In separate conversations the day before her death with her friend Lady Annabel Goldsmith and her daughter Jemima Khan, Diana used identical language when they asked how serious she was about Dodi: ‘I need another marriage like a bad rash on my face.’”
Similarly, Bedell Smith said it was false that Charles had to beg his parents for a state funeral for Diana — it was the queen who recognized the need for a public tribute.
And it was the queen who sent a Royal Air Force jet to fly to Paris to bring Diana’s body home, with Charles and Diana’s sisters on board. Charles did not have to beg his mother for the plane.
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