The True Story Behind the Famous Yacht Photo Recreated in ‘The Crown’
Over its past two seasons, The Crown has recreated a number of iconic visual moments in the life of Princess Diana, perhaps most memorably the “revenge dress” she wore after Prince Charles publicly confirmed his infidelity. In its sixth and final season, which premieres in two parts beginning Thursday, Nov. 16, the show will depict the events leading up to Diana’s sudden death on Aug. 31, 1997, including the context for one of the most famous photographs ever taken of her.
Photo by API/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images
Taken on Aug. 24th, 1997, the photo shows Diana sitting alone on the edge of a diving board in a turquoise one-piece swimsuit, on board a luxury yacht called the Jonikal. The Crown’s Season 6 trailer recreates that moment on the diving board, with Elizabeth Debicki’s Diana musing in voiceover: “Don’t really understand how I ended up here.”
Read on for a better understanding of the famous yacht photo and why it's so powerful to this day.
What's the significance of Diana's iconic yacht photo?
This particular photograph has endured for at least two haunting reasons. It was taken just a week before Diana’s death, and seems to capture both how lonely and how hunted she was in her final days.
Related: 50 Princess Diana Quotes to Memorialize the People's Princess
Who's yacht was Diana on in the famous diving board photo?
The yacht was owned by business mogul Mohamed Al Fayed (Salim Dau), and at the time, Diana was in a whirlwind romance with his son, Dodi Fayed (Khalid Abdalla); the pair began seeing each other in July of 1997, just six weeks before they died together in a car crash in Paris.
Why was Diana on a yacht at the time the diving board photo was taken?
Fans of the show may remember that the fifth season ended with Diana packing her bags for a much-needed vacation with the Al Fayeds, who invited her to come with them on their yacht to Saint-Tropez. This trip was a special one for Diana and for her sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, who accompanied her. “Everything about that trip to St. Tropez was heaven,” Harry wrote in his memoir, Spare (via Today). “The weather was sublime, the food was tasty, Mummy was smiling… There was much laughter, horseplay, the norm whenever Mummy and Willy and I were together, though even more so on that holiday.”
The iconic diving board photograph, though, was taken off the coast of Portofino, during a trip later that summer without William and Harry. While it’s impossible to know how Diana was actually feeling in that moment, the photograph (taken by a paparazzo) is a haunting reminder of how she was constantly being watched in her final days, deprived of privacy.
What happened with Princess Diana and the paparazzi in her final days?
Diana and Dodi were hounded by paparazzi throughout their time in the south of France and Italy, with even low-quality photographs of the couple attracting bids of ￡500,000 (that’s more than ￡900,000 in today’s money, or $117 million). The the pair’s romance was a media sensation, and the frenzy of interest was fueled by rumors of an impending engagement and pregnancy.
When the couple flew into Paris from Sardinia on Aug. 30, they were pursued by an army of photographers all vying for their piece of the pie. Dodi instructed his driver, Henri Paul, to do his best to evade the paparazzi, but they were still followed on every step of their journey—from the airfield to Villa Windsor, a historic villa owned by Mohamed Al Fayed, to the Ritz Hotel, and then to Chez Benoit, a chic Michelin star bistro.
The onslaught was so relentless that the couple abandoned their plans to dine at Benoit, and ended up returning to the Ritz to eat dinner at around 10 p.m. local time, since the hotel allowed them more privacy. Dodi reportedly came up with a plan to evade the photographers by leaving the hotel via a back entrance—but unfortunately, the plan failed.
Related: Before She Died in August 1997, These Were Princess Diana's Final Words
Did the paparazzi kill Diana?
After Diana, Dodi and her bodyguard were driven away from the hotel, they were chased at high speed by paparazzi on motorcycles, adding an element of chaos that ended in tragedy, when their car crashed into a concrete pillar inside the Pont de l'Alma traffic tunnel. Jurors at Diana’s inquest would later rule that the princess had been “unlawfully killed” via gross negligence, both on the part of Paul (who was reportedly driving drunk) and by the paparazzi chasing the car.
The claustrophobia and stress of Diana’s treatment by the press pack will play a key role in The Crown’s final season, according to Debicki. “It’s pretty horrendous, it’s very abusive to hound somebody like that,” she told The Hollywood Reporter. “I think Khalid would say the same that you only have to experience it for like 10 seconds before you realize it’s completely bizarre and a horrendous experience to find yourself in. You’re really trapped.”
