Season synopsis
Contains spoilers for this season and earlier seasons.
The final season opens in 1997 with Diana and Dodi al-Fayed’s holiday under intense paparazzi attention. Their trip moves from the Mediterranean to Paris, where Dodi plans to propose and Diana declines. The drama follows their final hours and the fatal car crash in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel. At Balmoral, Elizabeth and the royal family struggle over how to respond as public grief grows. Charles travels to Paris to bring Diana’s body home, and Elizabeth eventually addresses the nation from Buckingham Palace.
The story then follows the family through the years after Diana’s death. William returns to Eton and grieves privately, while Charles tries to reach his sons; William later visits Diana’s grave at Althorp. Public scrutiny of the monarchy continues as Tony Blair’s government presses for change. William later begins university at St Andrews, where he meets Kate Middleton; the season shows their early courtship and his growing attachment, but ends before they marry. The Queen Mother and Princess Margaret die in 2002, and Elizabeth marks her Golden Jubilee.
Charles asks Elizabeth to approve his marriage to Camilla; Elizabeth then seeks William and Harry’s views before giving her blessing to a civil wedding followed by a church service. Their 2005 wedding is the final major family event. Elizabeth, approaching her eightieth birthday, also considers funeral plans and privately questions whether she should hand the crown to Charles. The series finale returns to her inner debate rather than depicting her death: the Queen remains alive as the drama ends, with younger versions of herself appearing as she looks back on her long reign.