‘The Crown’ Star Elizabeth Debecki Thinks Princess Diana’s Black Sheep Jumper Was ‘Brave’
In January 1981, 20-year-old (future) Princess Diana stepped out in a red sweater featuring a black sheep amongst white ones. The Warm & Wonderful sweater, became an instant classic, both for its cheeky aesthetics and its potential for hidden messaging. Did Diana wear it to signal that she, too, felt like a black sheep among the royals? After all, Diana was known for breaking rules with her fashion. And speculation that she wasn’t totally happy in her marriage started early.
The gossip and buzz that surrounded the bold sweater made it a pivotal moment in royal fashion history. Naturally, The Crown paid homage to the moment. Star Elizabeth Debecki revealed her thoughts on it.
‘The Crown’ star Elizabeth Debicki spoke about Princess Diana and the black sheep sweater
Debecki sat down with British Vogue to discuss some of her The Crown character’s iconic looks. This included the aforementioned sweater, which Emma Corrin wore when they portrayed Diana in season 4.
“I just love her for that,” Debecki began, speaking of the Princess. “It was brave and kind of great. It’s interesting, isn’t it, because you could almost think back and think from the very beginning she was trying to tell us something, which is not hugely subtle in this jumper, but we love her for that. It’s fantastic that she had that self-awareness so early on.”
Debicki brings a lot of nuance to her portrayal of Princess Diana on ‘The Crown’
Debicki was aware of the iconic shoes she had to fill in The Crown Season 5. As she told Today, Debicki did a deep dive into understanding Diana’s fashion legacy, since style was such an important part of Diana’s public persona and even served as a way for her to communicate with the public.
However, Debicki’s approach to preparing for the role was more holistic than method acting. For instance, when asked if she studied the late royal’s mannerisms intently and tried to replicate them, she remarked that doing “impersonations” wouldn’t be the way she prepares.
“We feel a lot of responsibility with what we do, as actors in this show, but we also know that we’re not trying to get a likeness, we’re trying to capture sort of an essence, I think,” she said. Given Debecki’s portrayal has already garnered praise, clearly, it’s working for her.
This isn’t the first time someone’s brought up that sheep jumper
In British pop culture, Di’s black sheep sweater lives on in infamy. For instance, Harry Styles paid homage to Diana’s look when he stepped out in a bold sheep sweater vest by Lanvin back in 2019.
Vogue also mentioned the iconic sheep sweater when discussing Diana’s many sweater- and cardigan-based looks over the years.
Of Princess Diana’s prowess for wearing bold sweaters, the magazine notes, “While cashmere and cardigans often make the average person look stiff and stuffy, Diana wore them with stylish, Sloane Ranger-esque panache.” It is precisely this panache that made the black sheep Warm & Wonderful sweater so legendary.
