The Crown‘s excision of one crucial moment from Princess Diana’s funeral has been explained by the show’s executive producer. The Netflix historical drama has tracked the life of Queen Elizabeth II over the course of six seasons that span from the Queen’s youth to the turn of the millennium. Season 6, which recently premiered part 1 of 2, dramatizes the events surrounding the 1997 death of Princess Diana (Elizabeth Debicki), but did not include the speech given by her brother Charles Spencer at her funeral, which featured an admonition of the media frenzy around his late sister.

Variety recently spoke with executive producer Suzanne Mackie about The Crown season 6. Mackie explained that, while they were originally planning to include Charles Spencer’s speech in the show, they opted to remove it from the narrative. The reason for this was the fact that “from a sheer story point of view, there wasn’t room for it,” as it didn’t fit the theme of the show. Read Mackie’s full quote below:

We did include it, and then we didn’t. In the end, it was a story choice not to not to dramatize it. It didn’t quite fit in with what we were trying to say. To be honest, it sort of feels like there’s too much story. You have to choose what themes you’re exploring. I was always fascinated by that speech. It’s a beautiful speech, and it was very rousing and it was very, very moving. I remember watching it and being very moved by it, and its impact was very visceral. But just from a sheer story point of view, there wasn’t room for it, though it was a profoundly important moment.

It Makes Sense That This Princess Diana Funeral Moment Was Cut

It is understandable why this particular element of the The Crown true story would have been excised. While the show endeavored to treat Princess Diana’s death with respect and weight, it is ultimately the story of Queen Elizabeth II, not Diana. While Charles Spencer’s speech is important to Diana’s story, the focal point of the show must naturally be the Queen, who has been played at various ages over the years by Claire Foy, Olivia Colman, and Imelda Staunton.

Another aspect that likely influenced this decision is the fact that there has been a wide variety of media about Diana since her death. Recently, this has included the Oscar-nominated movie Spencer and the musical Diana (which was recorded and released on Netflix in addition to running on Broadway) as well as her portrayal as a The Crown character. While the speech given by Charles Spencer (played on the show by Philip Cumbus) is important, the wealth of projects about her life allows various creative teams somewhat more freedom to pick and choose elements of the Diana story.

Ultimately, including Charles’ speech wouldn’t have helped The Crown deliver on its mission statement. While Princess Diana’s death rocked the royal family and is a major event that needed to be included, the details of the aftermath largely needed to be centered around Queen Elizabeth II’s emotional journey. Charles’ condemnation of the media didn’t necessarily service that any better than other sequences that the show’s writers did elect to include.

Source: Variety