The Crown, Season 6

As a longtime fan of the often profound, but totally soapy-in-a-good-way series The Crown, I wondered how the last season would land with me and other viewers. After all, the past five seasons were anchored by historical events such as World War 2, the Welsh Mining Disaster, and other grave contexts.

Would Season 6 be hopelessly sudsy and even tabloid-ish, given that the showrunners would be exploring the romance of Princess Diana (Elizabeth Debicki) and Dodi Fayed (Khalid Abdallah), Diana’s death, and the rise of Prince William and Prince Harry?

I need not have worried. Maybe because this installment is built on all the others, Season 6 is just as full of profound revelations about the human condition as it tells the stories of real human beings. Plus, because of the queen’s death in September of 2022, this season is infused with extra grief and poignancy. Watching the elderly queen (a vulnerable yet staunch Dame Imelda Staunton) interact with younger versions of herself (Olivia Colman and Claire Foy), asking questions of who she wanted to be versus who she had become, was beautiful and soul-filling.

Another scene that struck me was when then-Prince Charles asked his mother for permission to marry Camilla Parker-Bowles, the woman with whom he had loved and carried on an affair for many years. When the queen approached the archbishop of Canterbury he balked, finally giving in if Charles and Camilla should publicly repent after their vows. No one can blame the archbishop for wanting them to repent, but the queen was not just a devout Christian, she was also a mother who wanted her son to be able to experience grace.

“I’ve always found comfort in the knowledge that God retaineth not his anger forever because he delighteth in mercy,” she said matter-of-factly, referring to Micah 7:18. It was one example of several in the whole series where the queen showed her genuine, Scripture-imbued faith.

Divided into two parts, the season begins with Diana and her boys embarking on a vacation with Dodi Fayed. Debicki’s casting is brilliant as she embodies Diana’s mannerisms and gestures astonishingly well (she has an Emmy to prove it). Abdallah is also moving as a man tired of being a pawn in his father’s quest for legitimacy and power. Their romance, which never really got off the ground, is doomed, of course, but viewers can see how their real friendship sustained them during a stressful period.

Following their deaths due to a tragic car crash, the world mourns and the show shifts its focus to those left behind, chiefly princes William and Harry. Thrust further into the spotlight, and grieving their “mummy,” the boys flounder yet lean on each other heavily. That their bond is fractured in real life is heartbreaking, but the show gave me a flicker of hope that their past trust and love for each other might one day be restored.

As the series ends, the queen takes center stage again. After all, without her, there is no “Crown.” In the last episode of 10 in this season and 60 overall, the queen reflects on her life of service to her people. Titled “Sleep Dearie, Sleep,” the episode features the queen and Prince Philip planning their funerals. As she departs this earth, the show depicts her spirit making her way through the chapel where her body lies in state, with one last visit from her previous versions. A teenage Elizabeth also appears, wearing an ATS (Auxiliary Territorial Service, where she served during WW2) uniform, and salutes the great leader that girl became through many years of love and loss, challenge and triumph. “Grief is the price we pay for love,” the queen famously said once, and many grieved and loved the extraordinary person she was. This exquisite and carefully wrought season shows viewers more of who she was and what she still has to teach us about a life of faith, well lived.

Some seasons of the show feature graphic content that does not reflect the CRC’s sexual ethic, but Season 6 is quite benign. It is rated 15 and up for strong language, kissing, and graphic scenes of the fatal crash. (Netflix)