A lonely woman finding her place in society; a lonesome man, an heir who can't seem to live up to his father's expectations. The first four episodes of The Crown's season 6, seem to be about loneliness or isolation. Part one of the final season chronicles Diana's final days. Her perpetual forlorn expression is likely to haunt viewers for a long time.
Post-divorce, Diana has managed to fill her time with various charities close to her heart, which makes her the queen of people's hearts. In season five of the show, the princess' positive demeanour is what makes her more popular than the other royals. In season six, her compassion, compounded by her being a spouse who has been cheated on, makes her more relatable. It is understandable why people pour out into the streets in hordes and mourn her when her life is cut tragically short.
Diana's loneliness and feeling of isolation are relatable to several of us even today. Her lover/friend Dodi Al Fayed's dissociation from his father is relatable too. After all, in today's day and age, despite overstimulation and connectedness with technology, the 'lone wolf syndrome' seems to have caught on as an epidemic. We definitely needn't say much about overbearing parents with high expectations, who drive children to their edge.
The only time Diana's-- played by Elizabeth Debicki-- eyes seem to light up is when she is in the presence of her two children-- Harry and William. They both seem to adore their mother very much and vice versa. The princess is visibly blue and lonely at other times-- sometimes, even when she is in the company of Dodi, who adores her very much. Apart from time with her children and the various charities she is committed to, Diana doesn't seem to have a personal or social life. After spending a few days on Mohammed Al Fayed's yacht at St Tropez, when Dodi asks her if she has anything planned for the rest of the summer, she says nothing. That's when Dodi insists that she joins him on the yacht again after she drops the princes back to London.
Dodi himself seems to be alone in battling an overbearing father, who is keen to have Diana as a daughter-in-law. He is also under pressure as he is the heir of an empire that runs several luxury hotels and the luxury shopping store, Harrods. Loneliness or the feeling of being isolated also seems to haunt Prince Charles-- played by Dominic West, when his mother, Queen Elizabeth, played by Imelda Staunton refuses to make an appearance at Camilla's 50th birthday. Isolation is also felt by Prince William, played by Rufas Kampa when he has to deal with his mother's death in episode four. He goes missing for nearly 14 hours soon after he receives the news from his father. He certainly seems to feel alone when a decision is being made for him-- for the funeral to be a public affair, and for him, along with his brother having to walk behind the coffin is being made without his consent.
Queen Elizabeth too, seems to feel a certain separation or seclusion from his son as he urges her to be a 'mother' figure to the nation in the face of Diana's death. The Queen seems to be torn as she finds it difficult to come to terms with Diana's popularity and as she rightly tells Diana's apparition, that she's turned the household upside down. All in all, the four episodes are Diana's show all the way, but loneliness seems to have the lion's share.
