One of Netflix’s most popular shows, The Crown, is based on the reign of Queen Elizabeth II and the various historical events that have taken place over the years within the Royal family as well as in the socio-political landscape. According to Netflix, royal family drama is purely a “work of fiction”. They recently included a clip of Princess Diana singing on the show that left fans grabbing for tissues.
Purely fictional, the showrunners later explained why they used such a clip to tug at the fans’ heartstrings. Princess Diana was the nation’s sweetheart and left a hollow in the hearts of the people after her tragic death, which sent shockwaves through the nation. To see her on-screen living out the dramatic tension is enough anxiety-inducing; imagine having to watch her sing before getting dissed?
In the ninth episode, Avalanche, Diana, the Princess of Wales, gifts Prince Charles a VHS tape recording of her singing the song ‘All I Ask Of You’ from Phantom of the Opera for their wedding anniversary.
Charles, who was extremely indignant after watching Diana perform a duet dance of Uptown Girl at the Royal Opera House on his birthday, does not look quite pleased by the VHS tape. His face shows disdain despite it being such a private and intimate gift, away from the prying eyes of the public.
Although the late Princess had allegedly never sung in the original tape, it cannot be guaranteed given how the tapes have never been released. With the 25-year-old Emma Corrin dexterously portraying the beloved Princess and adding her sweet, melodious touch to the song, the viewers were left heartbroken by this particular scene.
Known for having conducted extensive research for the likes of The Iron lady, The Good Shepherd, The Special Relationship and more, Annie Sulzberger, who heads the show’s research, revealed: “When we found out that Emma could sing we thought, ‘ok, even if Diana wasn’t the best singer in the world and would have preferred to dance this, we don’t know. We have never seen the video’.”
Sulzberger admitted how they wanted to “break out hearts” while discussing the scene while praising Corrin for making the song sound “magnetic and impactful”.
Episode director Jessica Hobbs added to what Sulzberger had to say by talking about how the inclusion of this tiny bit of fiction worked in their favour and added an element of sentimentality to the show.
In an interview with Vulture, Emma revealed that she was extremely nervous while trying to attain perfectionism for the scene.
She revealed that she “did about two [takes]” before having a “complete panic attack, [had] a nosebleed” that tantamounts to “a proper breakdown”.
“I went downstairs, and they were so sweet,” she added. “They were like, “You don’t have to do it. You can do it tomorrow.”
The actress further said, “And I was like, “You can’t do it tomorrow! We’ve hired a theatre!” They were very lovely, but I did it. I did it a lot of times.”
Watch Princess Diana sing for Prince Charles in the clip below: