The fifth series of The Crown, which airs next week, is the most controversial yet - covering the most explosive period in the history of the Royal family under Queen Elizabeth II.
The monarchy's precarious place in 1990s Britain is at the forefront. But Diana once again steals the show.
The very first scene is a flashback to the 1953 opening of Royal Yacht Britannia, then to its present state in badly in need of repairs.
It acts as an all too obvious metaphor for the monarchy and the Queen herself. Her Majesty, while dealing with the progressing years, looks deeply hurt as Philip describes the yacht as an obsolete creature, past her best.
Ambitious Prince Charles is far more direct - telling anyone that will listen, his mother is too stuck in the past to be at the head of a modern monarchy and how undervalued he feels.
In one cringe-inducing scene, he describes himself to friends as a "useless ornament stuck in a waiting room gathering dust".
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A newspaper poll describes the Queen as "irrelevant, old, expensive, out of touch," but Charles is viewed much more favourably. That is, with Diana by this side, although it's clear Charles is no adoring husband.
So the couple goes on a second honeymoon with the children - and Charles' friends. He cuts it short to see the PM to lobby for the Queen's abdication.
This leads to a hurt and disappointed Diana agreeing to contribute to Andrew Morton 's book. Her friend Dr James Colthurst acts as a go-between, handing top secret tapes to Morton.
From then on, Diana's paranoia is emphasised. Colthurst is knocked off his bike, Morton's home office is broken into, Diana is convinced people are listening to her phone calls.
The stage is set for Martin Bashir to make his dastardly entrance. The series really plays up Diana's isolation and paranoia and portrays Bashir exploiting this to the full - telling her she could "trust no one" in order to land his exclusive.
Bashir played by Prasanna Puwanarajah, is utterly reprehensible in his manipulation of the princess. It is distressing viewing, but the storyline takes the heat off Charles.
Bashir is the villain of the piece.
The show also depicts the fire at Windsor Castle in 1992 - symbolic of the troubles the Queen faced in 1992.
This season's Queen is portrayed as deeply flawed and human. It can't be much fun playing 1990s Queen Elizabeth, and it is quite sad to see.
She even gets a tongue lashing from sister Princess Margaret for something she did 40 years ago - forbidding her marriage to the love of her life Peter Townsend. But that is where the heavily fictionalised Annus Horribilis's speech in The Crown handily comes in - she acknowledges she has made a lot of mistakes.
As the Queen puts it herself, she is being blamed for everything while her three children head towards the divorce courts.
It's not all bad news for Charles. He launches a fightback after the humiliating Camillagate tapes with a well-received interview with Jonathan Dimbleby and his great work with the Prince's Trust, and is now seeing Camilla freely after the separation from Diana - but his anger towards his ex remains.
And what of Diana?
Australian actress Elizabeth Debicki plays the Princess to a T, dazzling yet understated.
Diana fans will delight in Debicki's performance. She plays Diana, the royal outsider, perfectly - capturing her charisma, charm as well as heart-wrenching vulnerability. Debicki, 32, has all of Di's mannerisms. And the look is completed with heavily kohl eyes.
And at 6ft 3in, the blonde actress is able to convey 5ft 10in Diana's stand-out regal stature.
Despite the emotional slings and arrows, Diana's fun, charming and playful personality is conveyed throughout.
However, the series is also at pains to simultaneously portray her as a pitiful sad, lonely, friendless and teary figure. It just makes it all the more tragic.
The sweet scenes with lover Hasnat Khan play like a Hallmark movie, especially when Diana tells Hasnat tells she has no friends and is looking for a frog after her prince broke her heart. But at least it’s merciful respite to everything else she's going through.
In its treatment of senior Royals, The Crown really wants to have its cake and eat it.
There are lots of heavy-handed pieces of exposition to excuse or justify storylines.
Anne - nicely played by Claudia Harrison, gives her verdict on her brother's suitability as sovereign over dinner to her parents, saying she has reversed her opinion on him - as having "what it takes for the job" after getting through Camillagate embarrassment and the successful Dimbleby interview.
Even more clumsy exposition comes in, in the introduction of Tony Blair - shocked by Charles' lack of scruples in trying to oust his mother, but as Tony tells his wife Cherie, Charles is an impressive man, so who can blame him? So that's all right then. All is forgiven.
Apart from a few exceptions, including the excellent Jonny Lee Miller's John Major, the casting is perhaps not as great as in series 4, but at last, we have a portrayal of Diana that finally does her justice.
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