Fans are going wild over the fourth season of Netflix drama The Crown, as Princess Diana (played by actress Emma Corrin) has finally been introduced to the cast.
Now the streaming platform has released a special video on YouTube titled Beneath The Crown: The True Story of Charles & Diana’s Australia Tour, which includes archive footage from the royal couple’s official visit Down Under in 1983.
The 10-minute clip not only provides context about the tour, but also showcases the remarkable effort that has gone in to accurately recreating the events for viewers.
Presenter Anita Rani retraces their journey with contributions from Emma Corrin and Josh O’Connor, who play Diana and Charles respectively, alongside file footage of key moments from the tour.
The new season of the popular drama includes an episode recreating Charles and Diana’s tour of Australia and New Zealand almost four decades ago.
Footage is shown of the royals in the Northern Territory, which is contrasted with a scene from The Crown in which Uluru – also known as Ayers Rock – can be seen in the background.
Ms Rani noted that the moment Diana broke royal protocol by asking for a glass of water in the heat made her more relatable.
TV moment: Actors Emma Corrin (Princess Diana) and Josh O’Connor (Prince Charles) are shown in a scene depicting the royal couple’s trip to Uluru, also known as Ayers Rock
From the archive: Princess Diana and Prince Charles are pictured visiting Uluru in March 1983
Prince Charles and the Princess of Wales visit to Ayers Rock – Uluru on 21st March 1983
Emma added: ‘It baffles me that anyone was surprised that there was an element to which she couldn’t cope or that she struggled.’
The remarkable likeness to reality was also on display in footage of the royal couple meeting then-Prime Minister Bob Hawke on March 23, 1983.
In Tasmania, Charles paid tribute to his wife during a speech, which has been included in the new season of The Crown.
Another scene depicts Diana handing Prince William a koala plush toy as they venture into the outback, near Uluru.
Then and now: The remarkable likeness to reality was also on display in The Crown’s recreation of the royal couple meeting then-Prime Minister Bob Hawke on March 23, 1983
Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales in Canberra with Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke and his wife Hazel, March 1983.
Double take: The scene looks almost identical, with every detail from real life replicated
Princess Diana wore the Spencer family tiara and the badge of the Royal Family Order of Elizabeth II, with the Prince of Wales feathers brooch restyled as a necklace. Her pearl and diamond earrings were a gift from the Emir of Qatar
Princess Diana wearing a red Bruce Oldfield gown to a state reception at the Wrest Point Federal hotel in Hobart, Tasmania in March 1983
Flashback: In Tasmania, Charles paid tribute to his wife during a speech, which has been included in the new season of The Crown
Josh claims the episode featuring the tour is ‘such an important episode for their story [because] it almost tells their happiest moments and then some resurgence that happens with Diana that becomes the love of a nation’.
However, the cast and crew of the award-winning show did not travel to Australia to film the program.
They instead used various locations around Spain, and incorporated digital effects to make the settings look suitably Antipodean.
The city of Malaga was used for Sydney, while the desert near the port city of Almería was used as the backdrop for their visit to Uluru.
Recreating real life: The cast and crew of the award-winning show did not travel to Australia to film the episode. They instead used various locations around Spain, and incorporated digital effects to make the settings look suitably Antipodean
The royal couple with Prince William in the gardens of Government House on April 18, 1983 in Auckland, New Zealand
Down Under: Emma, who plays the late People’s Princess, shares many scenes with Josh and an infant actor who plays their firstborn, Prince William
Prince Charles and Princess Diana with a young Prince William arriving at Alice Springs airport on March 20, 1983
Emma Corrin recreates Princess Diana’s bright pink ensemble during a Royal visit to Australia with Prince Charles on 7th April 1983
Princess of Wales and Prince Charles pictured waving to residents and spectators at Bentley Hockey Stadium in Perth
Princess Diana’s colourful ensemble is replicated in incredible detail in series four of The Crown – even down to the fascinator
Glowing: The British actress, 24, was emulating the people’s princess’ style in a lemon hued co-ord (right: Princess Diana on board the flight to Australia in 1983)
‘It almost tells their happiest moments’: Actor Josh O’Connor, who plays Prince Charles, claims the episode featuring the tour is ‘such an important episode for their story’
The Netflix series, which was filmed from August 2019 to March 2020, also hired extras with Australian accents to help add to the Australian environment they constructed in Spain.
The Crown’s fourth series begins as the 1970s are drawing to a close, with the Royal Family preoccupied with safeguarding the line of succession by securing an appropriate bride for Prince Charles, who is still unmarried at 30.
The Crown is now streaming on Netflix