The Crown is criticised for recreating Princess Diana’s wrecked Mercedes

Recent pictures obtained by The Daily Mail reveal the smashed-up car that was recreated on set at Elstree Studios and people are not happy about it. 

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The smashed up Mercedes prop

So what does the car look like? And why do people think the show has crossed a serious line?

Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed died in the early hours of the morning on August 31, 1997 in a Mercedes S-Class. They were being chased by paparazzi at the time and were travelling in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel in Paris when they crashed.

The images of the replica car (in The Daily Mail) show the bonnet crushed and the windscreen and dashboard completely obliterated. The wheels of the black car have also buckled and the roof is totally missing.

The look-alike prop is rumoured to have been secretly transported to Paris for filming last year.

Crews were seen in October 2022 filming a scene depicting Diana’s final journey, however, Netflix insisted at the time that “the exact moment of the crash impact will not be shown.”

It sparked heated backlash back then and now the debate has opened up once again after these images were released of the car wreckage. They show the truth of just how much, and how graphically The Crown will portray Diana’s final moments.

A source told The Daily Mail, “I think a lot of people will find it quite sick that they went into such detail to recreate how the car was smashed up. I think it’s going to cause a lot of upset with the Royal Family. If it was any other family I’m not sure they’d do it.”

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“This is classless, poor taste and judgement”

And viewers tend to agree. While they acknowledge that the show went to great lengths to recreate the car with the utmost accuracy, they still believe that its inclusion is insensitive and disrespectful. Others have said it’s just plain wrong. 

“I won’t be watching, this is so distasteful,” one Twitter user said.

Another wrote: “This is so disrespectful, they could just announce it tastefully and respectfully on the show.”

“Shame, shame, shame,” someone else tweeted.

“This is too far, especially because they filmed just metres from where the crash happened too. A desperate attempt from Netflix to cash in on the Royal Family,” said another.

“This is classless, poor taste and judgement,” replied another commenter. 

A producer even told The Sun that, “turning Diana’s final days and hours into a drama feels very uncomfortable. Finally, some of the crew members are pushing back on the ideas being tabled. With some of those moments still so fresh and upsetting, it feels as though a line is being crossed.”

But other fans are defending the decision, saying that it’s all part of the story. They insist that The Crown is just trying to be accurate and portray what really happened (an age-old debate surrounding the show…)

“It’s a fact and part of Diana’s story, it happened, so what’s the issue?” said one fan.

Another responded: “What’s insensitive about it? It’s a historic event, they’re just recreating it.”

Originally published as The Crown is criticised for recreating Princess Diana’s wrecked Mercedes