The wait is officially over. The first instalment of the sixth and final season of The Crown has touched down on Netflix.
As a fashion fanatic, there was plenty to look forward to beyond the plot line. This final season follows the Royal Family from 1997 to 2005, AKA Princess Diana’s (played by Elizabeth Debicki’s) iconic post-divorce 90s wardrobe, and the-then Kate Middleton’s (Meg Bellamy) Y2K university fashion, when her romance with Prince William was still budding.
Every fan of the record-breaking series has been intrigued by the storyline. Though it follows the real-life events of the royals with plenty of accuracy, the season trailer revealed the late Princess comes back to visit the family as a ghost.
MORE: The Crown Season 6: The fashion moments we can't wait to watch
READ: Elizabeth Debicki: The Crown star’s best ever red carpet looks
Before even watching the episode and having questions, my first is how has the drama series which does in fact follow a true story gone from slightly fictional and xxx for TV, to completely supernatural?
You will be pleased to know there are no spoilers here, just some food for thought on the opening chapter of the hotly anticipated season.
20 honest thoughts I had whilst watching The Crown Season 6 Episode 1
- The episode's opening scene shows the car Diana and Fodi were in speeding through Paris and crashing. A recap of the last episode of the previous season would have been more appropriate because I couldn’t remember how the last season ended and was dumbfounded when Diana is
- Did Diana really know all the words to Chumbawamba - Tubthumping?
- Queen Elizabeth talking about Diana says “Either you’re either in or out” of the Royal Family. Was this an aside to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex?
- Diana’s style is honestly unmatched
- Diana calls Camilla “You know who" to William, did she really feel so hostile towards her?
- Camilla’s opening line ‘a*** over tit’ immediately made me see her differently, and struck thoughts on how she was still not accepted by the public even though, on the surface, she was probably more relatable than Di.
- Dodi Al-Fayed has a fiancée and is travelling to Paris next week - seeing for the first time just how quickly his relationship with Diana actually developed has got me intrigued to watch on..
- Mohamed Al-Fayed calls Diana 'HRH', which to me signified her importance in the eyes of others, and that she was still seen as a princess
- The scriptwriters have done well at portraying a neutral stance from Queen Elizabeth between Diana and Camilla. She appears to be neither for nor against either of her son's love interests.
- I love that every scene Diana features in throughout this episode is accompanied by feel-good 90s music including George Michael and Dodgy - it amplifies her warmth and free spirit.
- I am desperate to know where Diana’s sunglasses are from.
- Diana confronting the paparazzi on the boat photographers and posing in her swimsuit to stop them harassing Wiliiam shows her maternal instincts kicking in.
- This is the first time I’ve seen the fitted black dress Camilla wore to her 50th birthday party. Though it may have reflected her unfussy, easygoing nature, the style shows an interesting contrast between her and Diana’s black midi ‘revenge dress, showcasing their opposing personalities.
- Prince Charles reads Captain Wentworth’s quote from Jane Austin’s Persuasion on Camilla’s birthday “‘I have loved none but you” - it’s unclear whether he read this in real life, but it clearly portrays that Camilla is the love of his life.
- Diana’s halterneck black swimming costume and white tailored shorts are *chef's kiss*
- Diana went on holiday with the Al-Fayed’s three weeks before Dodi’s wedding has left me asking more questions about their relationship... I want to watch the next episodes ASAP.
- Prince William is portrayed as really shy and quiet as a boy. Seeing him in the episode puts into perspective his tender age at the time Diana and Fodi started dating. It shows perhaps why he hasn't spoken publicly about any of the attention drawn in from his brother's memoir - he'd already been in the public eye enough throughout his parents' divorce.
- The chemistry between Elizabeth Debicki and Khalid Abdalla is fantastic, and I’m now more intrigued about their whirlwind romance. Sending a Cartier watch to her home asking her to go to Paris when his wedding is three weeks away? Tell me more.
- The romance plots are done brilliantly. I’m as intrigued to see Diana and Dodi’s relationship grow, which occurred in real-time when I was less than a year old, as I am to see Charles and Camilla’s blossoming relationship (despite obviously knowing they stood the test of time)
- Although I have no idea how the show’s directors are going to bring Diana back as a ghost, knowing it’s going to happen has kept me hooked.
