Elizabeth Debecki Didn’t Want to Wear 1 ‘Unforgiving’ Princess Diana Outfit in ‘The Crown’

The Netflix series The Crown has thrilled audiences with its tantalizing dance between reality and fiction. The show purports to tell the story of the British royal family with each season focusing on a distinct time period in the often salacious history. 

As season 4 wrapped up the early 1990s, viewers know season 5 will feature some heartbreaking moments including the death of Princess Diana. The beloved royal figure is portrayed in the series by Elizabeth Debecki, and figuring out how to portray such an iconic figure has sometimes presented challenges. 

One outfit, in particular, left Debecki balking. 

Elizabeth Debecki portrays Princess Diana in Season 5 of ‘The Crown’

The Crown Season 5 dived into the drama surrounding the public disintegration of Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s marriage. This tumultuous relationship has of course been brought to the screen as a form of entertainment before, captivating people for years. 

Now Elizabeth Debecki takes over as Princess Diana for some of her most vulnerable and high-profile historical moments. In past seasons, a very young Princess Diana was portrayed by actor Emma Corrin. But as the role became more of a focal point and shifted to a later period, the part was recast. Corrin expressed support and excitement over passing the torch to Debecki. 

Elizabeth Debecki didn’t want to wear this ‘unforgiving’ Princess Diana outfit 

Stepping into the role of Princess Diana is no easy feat. The Royal was renowned for her beauty, sense of style, grace, and charisma. The Crown has earned a reputation for attention to detail. And since so much of the royal family’s life has been captured on film and in photographs, there is plenty of source material to draw from when it comes to recreating specific looks and outfits. 

In a video for British Vogue, Debecki flipped through photographs of Princess Diana’s looks, explaining how they recreated them. When she got to one iconic look, she shared that she did not want to wear it. 

The picture is from 1995 and captures Diana leaving a gym in workout attire. She’s wearing a long-sleeved dark shirt with tight salmon-colored shorts, which is where Debecki took issue. “I really didn’t want to wear the pink salmon shorts because they’re unforgiving,” the actor explained. Another element of the ensemble, however, was more welcome, “The shoes are incredible,” she shared. “They’re like moon boots and then these very, very thick socks.”

Princess Diana was hounded by the paparazzi 

Debecki uses the reflection on this specific outfit to talk about one particular piece of paparazzi footage. In it, Princess Diana was heading into the gym and walks backward and sideways to avoid turning around to face the snooping camera. “I just thought she was brilliant for that,” Debecki admired. “I just loved her even more.”

Of course, Princess Diana’s tense relationship with the paparazzi was well-documented. Other tactics she would use to evade the ever-present paparazzi included wearing the same outfit multiple days in a row (thus decreasing the value of any shots they managed to snag). On at least one occasion, she recruited some bystanders to help her out. When visiting an Austrian ski lodge, she befriended a few women who looked like her and convinced them to dress in the same outfit. The camera crews weren’t sure who to follow or photograph! 

While that sounds like fun and games, many — including Princess Diana’s own son Prince Harry — place serious blame on those aggressive paparazzi for the Princess’s untimely and tragic death.