The Crown’s costume designer reveals how the team recreated Princess Diana’s wardrobe for the drama’s final season – from 3am eBay shopping sessions to designers re-releasing famous ’90s outfits
The final season of The Crown will be released in two parts, with the first releasing on November 16 and the second on December 14.
While the royal drama is no stranger to controversy, the sixth series is likely to feature some of its most controversial moments.
One of the events documented in the drama is the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, who died in a car accident in Paris on August 31, 1997.
Although it has been reported that the fatal crash will not be shown on camera, the episodes will build up to the death of the royal family in the first episode of the season.
Sidonie Roberts, costume designer and head buyer for The Crown, spoke to the Telegraph about dressing actor Elizabeth Debicki in her final episodes, capturing the real-life royal’s iconic style in the drama.
Actor Elizabeth Debicki is caught filming series six of The Crown. The swimsuit she is wearing is a perfect replica of the swimsuit worn by Diana, Princess of Wales during her 1997 Mediterranean cruise with Dodi Al Fayed
Diana, Princess of Wales, pictured in the summer of 1997 in her Gottex animal print halter swimsuit – one of her most iconic pieces
Another piece that Sidonie Roberts, The Crown’s costume designer and head buyer, mentioned was this red Catherine Walker dress.
While looking at the season six costumes for the character, Sidonie noticed how little clothing populated the rail.
This realization, she said, made it “really clear how her life is being cut short,” labeling the moment a “powerful realization.”
During her last summer, the princess famously cruised the Mediterranean with Dodi Al Fayed, vacationing in the south of France with him and her sons William and Harry.
According to Sidonie, this is where one of the princess’s most iconic swimsuit looks comes into play: an animal print halterneck swimsuit made by Israeli swimwear company Gottex.
The company created the piece for the royal drama before re-releasing it for other customers to buy.
Sidonie told the Telegraph that at some point the group is hounded by the press, prompting her to don the high-profile piece and offer the press some images in exchange for privacy, “because William is really struggling.”
The costume designer and buyer added, “In these moments she is very aware of the motive and the agenda, what this costume will say and the power she has with the media and her fashion.”
Another of the princess’s most famous pieces also features in the program: the turquoise swimsuit she wore while sitting at the end of the passerelle on Al-Fayeds’ yacht in the Mediterranean.
The outfit worn by Diana, Princess of Wales on a visit to Angola, where she walked across a landmine minefield cleared by a charity called Halo, was reproduced almost exactly
This piece was recreated by the costume team and retailed for £200.
Some of the clothing items worn by the characters in the drama will be inspired by the costume department. Some of these, Sidonie revealed, were picked up during a 3am shopping session on eBay.
However, the series includes many more that are directly based on pieces worn by the princess.
One of these shown during the final episode is a simple red dress, created by designer Catherine Walker – who designed a significant number of well-known ensembles worn by the royal family.
In reality, the simple red shirt, which features a gold double belt, was originally made for the princess during a visit to Chicago, but was not worn until the foundation stone was unveiled in the emergency department of Northwick Park Hospital in Harrow. Middlesex.
Diana is captured in Bosnia in August 1997, a trip made as part of her work to raise awareness about landmines. She wears a light pink shirt and large gold earrings
Netflix designers captured the outfit in the drama, creating the royal look with the crisp light pink button-down shirt and its large gold studs
Sidonie said the dress inspired a look in the program that was supposed to be a “clean and clear vehicle to evoke the ostentatious wealth of Al Fayeds’ world.”
Another ensemble that looks almost identical to the outfit that Diana, Princess of Wales, actually wore is the outfit she donned during a trip to Angola in 1997.
During the visit, the royal family wore protective body armor and a visor as she crossed a landmine minefield cleared by the Halo charity in Huambo.
As part of her lobbying work to raise awareness about landmines, the Princess visited Bosnia in August that year.
In one of the famous photos from that visit, the royal family is dressed in a pale pink shirt, adorned with a pair of large gold stud earrings.
Meanwhile, the trailer for the upcoming series shows the royal family dressed in a very similar shirt and earrings, showing how the spirit of the princess’s style has been captured by the creative team.
The show recreated this shot – a moment that would become particularly poignant after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, with her sitting at the end of the passerelle on Al-Fayeds’ yacht in the Mediterranean, not long before her dead.
Diana, Princess of Wales, is pictured sitting aboard the Jonikal Yacht, owned by the Al Fayeds, moored in Portofino in 1997
When it comes to the costumes during what will undoubtedly be a very controversial segment – the moments leading up to the royal family’s death – Sidonie revealed how the team handled it.
She revealed that the clothes were kept extremely close to what Diana actually wore.
They worked with a tailor and made two pantsuits, keeping the final scene “as true to life as possible.”
This, Sidonie said, was because “the s‘The subject is very sensitive and very tragic’, and they did not want to detract from that.
She said: ‘That was a very important decision for us.’