The Blue
This is a stunningly accurate representation of the dress Diana wore to a fancy party. She and Charles famously danced gleefully -- they were actually often snapped dancing -- and of all her fashions, it's one of the better ones. You could see the right person pulling that off today.
The Yellow
We only see Emma Corrin in this dress for a moment -- when they go to collect William, she sprints out of the car and inside -- but it seems like a dead ringer for this one on Diana, which she wore for a day of events.
The Reds
Edited: Foiled again! The red reds is real, but I missed it because I was ONLY looking for analogs from this tour. It didn't occur to me that they'd copy from elsewhere. Oh well! Here is the original caption: "Emma's red ball gown, from when the bloom starts to drop off the rose -- her Diana makes a jokey little face that steals some thunder from Charles during a speech, and he doesn't care for it -- appears to be a combination of the material from one and the cut of another. (t was a LONG tour. Diana wore a lot of stuff.)
The Pinks
The Crown seems to have taken these two pink Diana outfits and used them for inspiration for the two Emma Corrin wore at similar events (the bottom two photos are supposedly both from something at Sydney Harbor). It's always interesting to me what they put their efforts into copying exactly, and what they're cool with just getting close.
The Pinks Part 2
This is pretty damn close, but just a less rich pink.
The Blue
This is another pretty close duplicate, from when Diana and Charles meet the prime minister and his wife.
The Pattern
This dress, we see on Diana when she and Charles have their confrontation, but it seems to be borrowing from the dress on the left in spirit.
The Collar
Well, they nailed the gigantic doily around Diana's neck. And THE BABY CHEEKS. Poor Faux William did not get as good an outfit as Real William. Those brown pants are tragic. Luckily HIS LITTLE FACE.
The Rock
In The Crown, Diana is fatigued and dizzy at Uluru (formerly known as Ayers Rock, which is how it was referred to in the show) and can't continue the climb. In reality, she was hesitant because apparently she didn't realize until they got there that it wasn't the best attire (not that she had many choices at the time) and then her skirt blew up a bit and she spent the rest of the time clutching it around herself to prevent an untimely flashing. So it was stress rather than what Crown Charles later dismisses as "weakness." But the clothes are pretty spot-on...
... including how very much this outfit looked like Charles was wearing PJs. (Kate ALSO wore a dress but it doesn't look like she was asked to do any intense climbing. Poor Diana.)
The Extras
These are two other random outfits that don't seem based in anything I could find, but which are still robustly '80s. The montage of Charles and Diana being happy was really quite soul-crushing, because it was a taste of how good it could have been if he'd been secure in his own position and seen the immense value of her popularity.
The PM
It took me ages to place the actor playing Bob Hawke, and about three seconds before I Googled it, I screamed, "OH MY GOD, THE DUKE!" He's the evil Duke in Moulin Rouge, aka Richard Roxburgh.
The Lights
They clearly got Helena BC for one day, so they did several different scenes of Margaret, Anne, the QM, and QEII having a chat around the dining table. In this one, all the lights are on, obviously.
The Astonishment
When Her Maj learns that Diana is bringing 8-month old William -- a royal first -- she is astonished. "We never brought them anywhere," she marvels, recalling how she and Philip were gone for five months without the children when they visited Australia. Margaret snarks that perhaps there were consequences to that, and Elizabeth is like, "I don't know what you mean, that tour was a screaming success," leading to this stony reaction...
The Hero
... from Anne, whom I love. Margaret also gives her a flick of the eyeballs. We have slipped into a pattern where Margaret (and occasionally Anne) have all the wisdom and Elizabeth and her mother are oblivious old biddies.
The Spare
Margaret also tells Elizabeth that the staff is gossiping about Diana's bulimia (in fact, the press had started speculating about her having eating disorders, and had noticed Diana's constant shyness; this makes it feel like Morgan jumped the gun with Anne's comments two episodes prior). She then shrugs that people to the strangest things to themselves when they're unhappy, as she grasps her glass of wine and looks momentarily lost. It's a nice, quick moment from HBC that tells you she knows the subtext she's playing.
The Other Woman
We're then treated to scenes from a hunt at Highgrove, where Camilla and her husband are in attendance, which ends in the lovers joining up to tell a very bawdy joke that goes over brilliantly. It's ALL gaiety up in here. (In reality, Chaz and Camz have sworn they were not lovers again until 1986, and that she actively avoided socializing with him during this time.) The point of this is to juxtapose Charles's gregariousness when by Camilla's side...
The Sadness
... with THIS image of Charles and Diana as they sit miserably in front of Elizabeth and Philip. E and P go on and on about how great Australia was for their partnership on several levels -- SEXY ONES TOO, EVERYONE -- but also that if they screw this up Australia will leave them and it will be all their fault. Great!
The Plane
This is a really nice scene for Emma Corrin. I don't know if we're meant to think Diana had no idea what the itinerary was until they were on the freaking plane -- it's possible? -- but she explains in no uncertain terms that she thinks it's barbaric to ask her to spend two weeks away from William. When he explains that she chose this job when she chose marriage, she counters that she considers her most important job to be raising a compassionate and loved child who will get from his mother the worldview his heartless douche courtiers won't provide. BURN.
The Press Conference
Upon their arrival, Charles tells a dumb joke about the weather that goes over like a lead balloon, and Diana seems totally bored. This is the stuff I don't get with Emma's portrayal -- I don't think Diana ever looked this scornful or zoned-out, at this point?
The Mwa Ha Ha
You know in The Wedding Singer, when Adam Sandler scream-sings his song about how love is B.S. while rival wedding singer Jon Lovitz watches in the wings and salivates, "He's losing his mind! And I'll reap alllllll the benefits"? That's this scene with the PM.
The Jeeps
Diana and Charles arrive at Uluru by hang-glider.
The Kvetching
Charles then later watches footage of Diana bailing on the trek, while on the phone spitefully complaining to Camilla about how weak and pathetic Diana is, and how she can't be relied upon to suck it up and show strength of character. (Which is crazy, because he's heard her put her foot down on a few things.) Peter Morgan may have once felt sorry for Charles, but damn, he is FIRMLY Team Diana and it shows.
The Other Drive
Next, Charles and Diana travel across Australia to see William by carrier pigeon and then jet-ski. (I tease. I love the establishing shots. I just also love poking fun at the show's tics.)
The Fight
This scene was also very good. And sad. Charles and Diana communicate in it like actual adults. He explains that he feels passed over, by his family and the public AND by his wife, and she explains that she basically feels exactly the same way. She also describes seeing Charles wear the cufflinks Camilla gave him on their honeymoon, and that her photo fell out of his diary while they were gone -- all tiny heartbreaks that would have been interesting to see, but I guess we already know the history and we get the point by now. Anyhoo, they actually open up to each other and listen.
The Reconciliation
A few people who were on the tour have come out and complained that none of this is true, and that the two of them were handsy and in love the whole time. Obviously we have no idea. But for the purposes of drama, this conversation is well-executed and also so very sad, because again, you see how it MIGHT have been if they'd been a healthy match with support systems that understood their problems rather than wanting to pretend they'd go away.
The Brush-Off
Like, say, this lady, who does not take kindly to Anne's gentle ribbing about how much the crowds are outnumbering those that came out for Elizabeth -- and how Diana's now eclipsing them both. The Queen refuses to even entertain the idea, but then Anne leads the plot for us by informing her mother that they all know Charles can't handle it when people get more attention than he does. So we know that before we see it. It's TV That Assumes Viewers Are Dumb.
The Isolation
We see a few events where people call Charles over only to ask where Diana is, and we see some signs that call him Big Ears and whatnot -- insults I DEFINITELY remember from when I was a kid. When Diana steals a laugh from him, he pitches a hissy and shuts her out, and she pounds fruitlessly on his door. She looks so small against that big wall, which is of course the visual metaphor they wanted.
The Arrival
When they return, Charles goes to Highgrove, and Diana and William head for Kensington Palace on a hoverboard. Later, Diana makes for Buck House in a Ford F-150.
The Plea
Diana is stuck in the dumpiest outfit for this scene. I suppose one glams down when one is pleading with the Queen for affection. This scene, which I assume is also made up, is ALSO very well done. It's played as if Elizabeth has no capacity for emotional conversation -- she does also admit to feeling like they're stabbing Charles in the back -- and the second it gets real, she rings the bell to summon for the staff to escort Diana out. It's uncomfortable and desperate...
The Hug
... especially when Diana pointedly calls her "Mama" twice and then makes THIS face when she tries to hug the woman who COULD be a surrogate parent for her, but won't be. This face was some of Emma's most affecting acting so far. You can see her wait and wait and wait to be hugged back, silently pleading.
The Dis
It doesn't work. This was so wretched that even the butler looked away. I seriously do not think the actual Queen, no matter how weird this was for her, would have just flapped her hands at her sides this whole time. She's not a robot.
The Isolation
And so, Diana slips back into her old habits, while the Queen is persuaded by her mother not to do anything about it because everything will eventually resolve itself. (Seriously, the scene with Anne REALLY REALLY feels like it came too soon -- the snappish retort about whether doing nothing will be the Queen's solution to everything would have landed very well AFTER this.)
The Dance
I couldn't resist one last snap of this. It's a real gut-punch, isn't it?