Why Princess Diana's Friend Is Furious Over The New Season Of The Crown

If there were one season of "The Crown" that would receive a significant amount of controversy, it would be the one covering the most dramatic period in British royal history. Season 5 of the Netflix series takes place in the 1990s — a decade that saw the divorce of King Charles III and Princess Diana as well as her tragic death.

While it hasn't aired yet, rumors of what this season will entail have angered many people, including Judi Dench, who called it "crude and cruel" in a letter to The Times. In addition, an unnamed friend of Queen Elizabeth II described the series as a "vicious" retelling (via The Times), one that they feel is "vilifying the royal family."

The criticism of "The Crown" Season 5 has amped up considerably after it came to light that the events preceding Diana's death will reportedly be shown in the series, which has led a friend of Diana to voice concern about the show and how it could potentially harm her sons William, Prince of Wales, and Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex (via The Telegraph).

Psychic and spiritual healer Simone Simmons met Princess Diana in 1993 at the Hale clinic, an "alternative health center" that Diana regularly visited (via The Telegraph). Simmons said that she and Diana would speak often and that she would counsel her about the divorce from King Charles III. 

Simmons was obviously very fond of Diana and was upset to hear that her sudden death was reportedly going to be dramatized in the newest season of "The Crown." "These are cruel, sadistic, and wicked people to recreate these moments," Simmons told The Sun. "They are the lowest of the low. They are rewriting history as they go along and that's what makes me very angry." 

She added that Netflix was "deliberately reviving the most painful time in the boys' lives," referring to William, Prince of Wales, and Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex. "It's forcing them to relive the pain, the agony, the psychological torment they suffered when their mother died."

Part of "The Crown" Season 5 was filmed in Barcelona, Spain, and Catalan newspaper El Periódico suggested that "the fatal car accident Lady Di suffered" was being re-enacted.

However, a spokesperson for Netflix told The Sun that "the exact moment of the crash impact will not be shown" on screen, adding that the series "is a fictionalized dramatization, imagining what could have happened behind closed doors." Instead, a production source told Deadline that what will be shown is "the run-up" to the crash rather than a recreation.

Princess Diana and her then-boyfriend, Dodi Al Fayed, were killed on Aug. 31, 1997, when the car they were traveling in crashed in Paris' Pont de l'Alma tunnel (via Time). According to the source, the sequence of events will include "the car leaving The Ritz after midnight with paparazzi in pursuit and then the aftermath with the British Ambassador to France swinging into action with the Foreign Office and then the subsequent aftermath."