Picture: Netflix
We’re just a few weeks away from diving into the first half of the final batch of episodes that will bring Queen Elizabeth II’s story on Netflix to a close.
As we’ve covered in our big preview for the final season, the ten remaining episodes are being split up into two halves, with the first batch of episodes dropping on November 16th and the latter episodes dropping in mid-December on the 14th.
It will be an epic final season, with news coming earlier this year that prior actresses who portrayed the Queen in earlier seasons are returning.
Season 6, part 1 will consist of four episodes, each with a runtime of around an hour each. Episode titles for the final six episodes have yet to be revealed but we do know they’ll be written by Jonathan Wilson, Meriel Sheibani-Clare, Daniel Marc Janes, and Peter Morgan.
Christian Schwochow, the director of episodes 2, 3, and 4, explained that his episodes would be one overarching story designed almost as a film, saying his episodes are “one big film about the final weeks in Diana’s life.”
The director goes on to explain the events of his three episodes and gives a rough guideline on what they’re about, saying:
“It starts in the Mediterranean where we see Dodi and Diana having a summer romance on Dodi’s dad’s yacht. Then being found by a paparazzi who takes a picture of them kissing which changes everything in their life and they go to Paris together in episode 3 and this is where the big chase of Dodi and Diana by the paparazzi begins. And we know how it ends in the tunnel Pont de l’Alma where they, where they end up in this tragic car accident and episode 4 is the aftermath of that terrible accident and it’s a story about grief and about the world in tears and the story about two men, Prince Charles and Mohamed Al-Fayed trying to deal with their grief and also the Queen who has to find a position whether to show any emotion and to go to London and show grief or not.”
What are the episode titles for season 6 part 1? We’ve embedded them below but be warned, they may contain spoilers.
Episode 601 – ‘Persona Non Grata’
Director: Alex Gabassi
Writer: Peter Morgan
“As Princess Diana and the boys set off for St Tropez for a holiday courtesy of Mohamed Al Fayed, Prince Charles advances his latest plan to legitimise his relationship with Camilla in the public eye: a glittering fiftieth birthday party at Highgrove that he hopes the Queen will attend. Fayed, too, is in strategising mode. Unbeknownst to Diana, he hopes to engineer a romance between the Princess and his son, Dodi. But with a small complication: Dodi himself is already engaged to someone else.”
Episode 602 – ‘Two Photographs’
Director: Christian Schwochow
Writer: Peter Morgan
“Diana’s blossoming romance with Dodi sees them return to the south of France, getting to know each other on an idyllic cruise away from prying eyes. Or so they think: what they don’t realise is that there’s a photographer in pursuit. Soon, an intimate image of the couple becomes a global tabloid sensation, threatening to derail Diana’s planned trip to Bosnia as part of her campaign against landmines. In Balmoral, meanwhile, Prince Charles’s private secretary senses an opening: he will respond to Diana’s tabloid photo with a staged family photo of Charles and his sons.”
Picture: Netflix
603 ‘Dis-Moi Oui’
Director: Christian Schwochow
Writer: Peter Morgan
“Diana holidays on the Fayed yacht with Dodi once more, but with Dodi drained by a bitter lawsuit lodged by his former fiancée, the novelty is starting to wear off for Diana whose thoughts turn towards reuniting with William and Harry upon her return to London. As the holiday enters its final days, Fayed steps up the pressure on his son – not merely to pursue the romance but to propose. A fateful diversion to Paris sees matters come to a head – against the backdrop of an intensified and aggressive media pursuit. Meanwhile, at Balmoral, Philip initiates William into the art of deer-stalking.”
Episode 604 – ‘Aftermath’
Director: Christian Schwochow
Writer: Peter Morgan
“After the news breaks of Diana and Dodi’s fatal car accident, Charles and Fayed fly separately to Paris to supervise arrangements. The tragedy generates a vast outpouring of public grief, which catches the Queen off-guard. While she remains at Balmoral, popular anger builds about her absence from London and the perceived callousness of the Royal Family. Charles, recognising the precariousness of their position, urges the Queen to depart from rigid protocol and make herself visible to the public. At the same time as Diana’s death sends shockwaves through the Palace, Fayed processes the loss of his cherished son. Hoping that the news will bring him and the Royal Family together in shared grief, he instead finds himself increasingly shunned.”
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