Netflix has unveiled new footage from Season 5 of The Crown, ahead of its release next week.
Massively popular with audiences, the period drama has been criticised for taking liberties with its depictions of the royal family’s private moments. The late Queen Elizabeth II’s death and the historical events covered in the upcoming season have had everyone from former prime ministers to acting royalty calling for boycotts and pre-show warnings.
Are they right to be worried? We scoured the new footage for clues.
That Panorama interview
While it was teased in the first trailer, this new clip gives a more in-depth look at the infamous interview between Princess Diana and journalist Martin Bashir for BBC news programme, Panorama.
Tenet’s Elizabeth Debicki captures Diana’s charm and quiet fury as she speaks of there being ‘three of us in the marriage’, as her love rival Camilla watches on from home.
Diana’s engagement ring
The new clip also puts the spotlight on the engagement ring that Prince Charles gave to Diana back in 1981, with a hero shot of the blue sapphire ring as Diana takes it off before filming begins on the Panorama interview.
While its focus in the series could be seen as a symbol of the demise of Charles and Diana’s marriage, the princess was known to wear the engagement ring even after their divorce in 1996.
After her death, Prince William inherited his mother’s engagement ring and even used it himself when proposing to Kate Middleton.
The ‘annus horribilis’ speech
In November 1992, just days after a fire broke out at Windsor Castle, Queen Elizabeth II delivered a speech at the London Guildhall to commemorate her 40-year reign.
The Queen described the time period as an ‘Annus Horribilis,’ the latin phrase translates to ‘horrible year’ and she claimed ‘1992 is not a year on which I shall look back with undiluted pleasure.’
However, The Crown has come under fire with The Sun reporting that several lines of the infamous speech have been ‘made up’ for the programme, to reference other storylines.
The scenes were filmed in 2021 with The Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich standing in for the Guildhall.
Royal Variety Performance in 1995
Living in Buckingham Palace and being one of the richest people on the planet doesn’t sound as appealing when you remember the Queen had to sit through some of the most questionable British ‘talent’ every year for The Royal Variety Performance.
Taking place at the London Dominion theatre in November 1995, The Royal Variety Performance in 1995 was hosted by Des O’Connor and featured performances from the likes of Cliff Richard, Elaine Paige and Joe Pasquale.
Filming took place at The Colosseum in London’s West End, presumably because a production of Dirty Dancing was on at the Dominion when the upcoming season was shooting in February 2022.
Timothy Dalton as Peter Townsend
The acting legend takes on the role of Princess Margaret’s first love, Peter Townsend.
The Crown viewers will remember that we previously saw Queen Elizabeth II was hesitant to allow a marriage between the pair, with Townsend being sent overseas as an attaché for the British Embassy in Brussels.
The pair called off plans to marry, with their first reunion not being until the nineties, which would be the last time they met before Townsend’s death in 1995.