‘The Crown’: Emma Corrin Says She Got To Know Princess Diana Like a Friend
The highly anticipated fourth season of Netflix’s The Crown is set to debut on Nov. 15. Though the series has already garnered massive buzz, awards, and critical acclaim, for this season, the stakes are even higher.
Though the drama series follows Queen Elizabeth II, one of the most pivotal British royal family members comes into play this season. Season 4 will begin in the 1970s and move into the ’80s. “While Charles’ romance with a young Lady Diana Spencer (Emma Corrin) provides a much-needed fairytale to unite the British people, behind closed doors, the Royal family is becoming increasingly divided,” Netflix wrote in a press release.
For actor Emma Corrin who is portraying Princess Diana, much of her work was about getting as close to the late princess as she possibly could.
Emma Corrin got to live out some of the most pivotal moments of Princess Diana’s life
From her first date with Prince Charles to her public debut, as the future Crowned King’s fiance, and her wedding day, Corrin got to live out some of the most pivotal moments in the Princess of Wales’ life.
The actor has been a fan of The Crown from the beginning. “I have been glued to the show and to think I’m now joining this incredibly talented acting family is surreal,” she shared on Instagram. “Princess Diana was an icon and her effect on the world remains profound and inspiring. To explore her through Peter Morgan’s writing is the most exceptional opportunity and I will strive to do her justice.”
Corrin was even graced with the opportunity to wear a replica of Princess Diana’s iconic but massive wedding dress. She told British Vogue,
The Emanuels, who designed the original, gave us the patterns, and then it was made for me. We were filming the scene when you first see her in the wedding dress – I think it was Lancaster House in London – and I had a team of about 10 people helping me put it on because it’s massive. I walked out and everyone went completely silent. More than anything else I wear in the series, it’s so… it’s her.
This is how Emma Corrin mastered Princess Diana’s accent
It wasn’t simply mastering Princess Diana’s ever-evolving style that allowed Corrin to step into the role; it was also about mastering the People’s Princess’ accent.
“I love the Diana we meet in the beginning for so many reasons….this is the Diana no one knows about,” she told Variety. “We all know what she was like when she was older, there’s so much—too much—footage of her. So I was really charmed by getting to know younger Diana.”
There was one word that allowed Princess Diana to get the accent down pact. “Mine was ‘all right'” she said. “I just love her voice so much. I really miss it. She goes down at the end of everything she says, which makes everything she says sound quite sad.”
Emma Corrin got to know Princess Diana as a friend while working on ‘The Crown’
Embodying such a legendary person got personal for Corrin. In fact, she says that she got to know Princess Diana as if she were her friend. She met with Princess Diana’s former private secretary and watched the documentary Diana: In Her Own Words, over and over again.
“I feel I’ve got to know Diana like you would a friend,” she told British Vogue. “I know that sounds really weird, but I get a great sense of companionship from her. I suppose, over time, you kind of start to patch together a sense of empathy and a sense of understanding. I love figuring people out.”
