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Dedicated fans of Princess Diana have pointed out a glaring error in a key scene of Netflix's hit royal drama The Crown, centering around the famous "revenge dress" ensemble.
The streaming giant released the fifth season of The Crown in November, which dramatizes core events in the life and reign of Queen Elizabeth II during the early 1990s.
For the new season, British actress Imelda Staunton, 66, took over the role of the queen from Olivia Colman; Dominic West as Prince Charles from Josh O'Connor; and Elizabeth Debicki as Princess Diana from Emma Corrin.
Diana is a central figure to the new season, which shows the public breakdown of her marriage to Charles, including her participation in the 1995 BBC Panorama interview with Martin Bashir, and her contribution to Andrew Morton's 1992 tell-all biography, Diana: Her True Story in Her Own Words.
One of the key events depicted in the breakdown of the royal marriage is the evening in 1994, during which Charles admitted adultery on TV, while Diana appeared at a public event wearing a daring black cocktail dress and statement royal jewelry. The headline-grabbing appearance of the princess earned the garment she was wearing the nickname of the "revenge dress."
One key accessory worn on that night was a statement pearl, sapphire and diamond choker necklace. The recreation of the jewelry in The Crown, however, failed to impress social-media fans who have described it as "cheap" and "ridiculous."
@petitcoeurjewellerybox When i saw this i think i actually made a noise ? . I’m not usually one to poke holes in tv costumes. I think overall the crown does a great job, but it was just the fact that they featured it in such depth that made me chuckle. I couldn’t help myself but to share! #petitcoeurjewellerybox #thecrownseason5 #revengedress #thecrownprincess #princessdianafashion #jewelryspecialist #vintagejewelry #pearlnecklace #chockernecklace ♬ The Crown - Main Theme - Geek Music
Jewelry expert and founder of Paris-based Jewellery Box d'un Petit Cœur, Rebecca Kilbey, took to video-sharing social-media platform TikTok to point out the inconsistencies in the recreated necklace.
"When The Crown wants you to believe that Princess Diana's clasp for the 'Revenge Necklace' would ever be like this," reads the caption on the video that has now gained more than 2 million views and 246,000 likes.
"As a jewelry specialist I don't know if it was the lobster clasp of the multiple option chain that did it for me more. The real necklace went seamlessly around her neck and the clasp would have been at the front."
"The Crown did an amazing job," the post continued, "but I just don't know why they thought a close-up feature was a good idea."
TikTok users mostly agreed with Kilbey's opinion, voicing their critiques of the recreation in the comments section.
"I was thinking the same ! That's not a pretty clasp, so why doing a close up 😭" wrote one TikToker.
"THISSS lol it looked ridiculous," posted another, with a further user adding: "Looks cheap, lady d was class."
On the reaction to her video, Kilbey told Newsweek: "I was surprised by the number of views. It seems like lots of people noticed it as well. I think this is because it's a style of clasp that many people are familiar with."
The Crown have recreated a number of important royal jewels over the course of its five season run so far, including Queen Elizabeth II's Girls of Great Britain and Ireland tiara, and her Brazilian aquamarine-and-diamond parure, presented to her in 1953.
The most-iconic piece of jewelry associated with Princess Diana that has been recreated is her sapphire-and-diamond engagement ring—a prominently displayed symbol throughout the show.
The "revenge necklace" was a piece that Diana had made for herself, from a collection of pearls incorporating a large sapphire-and-diamond brooch given to her as a wedding present from Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.
Sapphires and diamonds are often given as royal wedding presents as, in jewelry terms, blue stones represent love and diamonds symbolize eternity.
The princess did not often wear brooches and so wore it as a necklace on a number of high-profile occasions throughout her marriage and beyond. Diana sported the jewelry to the White House in November 1985, the night she famously danced with Grease actor John Travolta. She also wore it with her "revenge dress" to a dinner at the Serpentine Gallery in Kensington Gardens, London, in 1994.
While The Crown's recreation has drawn attention online, one aspect of this criticism appears to be misinformed. The real necklace did not have its clasp at the front, but like the recreation, had its closure at the back of the neck as the show represents. It did not, however, feature an adjustable chain.
After Princess Diana's death in 1997 at the age of 36 in a high-speed Paris car crash, the majority of her personal possessions—including her jewelry collection—were inherited by her two sons, Princes William and Harry.
The necklace has not been seen publicly since Diana's death.
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About the writer
James Crawford-Smith is a Newsweek Royal Reporter, based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on the British royal family ... Read more