The Crown’s Elizabeth Debicki Says She Kept Emulating Princess Diana After Filming: 'I Had to Unwind the Wheel' (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Elizabeth Debicki.Photo:Rosaline ShahnavazElizabeth Debickiadmittedly had a hard time letting go of portrayingPrincess Dianain her Emmy-nominated performance inThe Crown. In this week’s issue, the actress, 33, opens up about playing the late royal — and the mannerisms that took her a long time to shake.The Australian actress says that she found herself emulating Princes Diana “for a long while” after wrapping the series' sixth and final season.“My voice changed quite a bit and I kind of had to consciously bring it back to my own voice where my voice wants to sit and also my own accent,” she explains. “I had to work so hard at getting the voice that I sort of ingrained it so deeply in myself that I had to unwind the wheel.“Elizabeth Debicki as Princess Diana in ‘The Crown’.Netflix / Courtesy: Everett CollectionDebicki notes that she was “doing quite a lot of physical stuff as well” and would catch herself “doing a lot of head tilting.““Someone said to me, ‘I think you’re doing it when you’re trying to convince people something.’ If someone was like, ‘You can’t go that way.’ I [found] myself sort of saying, ‘Are you sure?’ And then I was like, ‘Oh my God, I’m slipping into this.'““That has left me now, but I had to do it consciously,” she adds.Elizabeth Debicki as Princess Diana in ‘The Crown’ ; Diana, The Princess of Wales.Daniel Escale/Netflix ; Mark Cuthbert/UK Press/GettyDebicki portrayed the mother ofPrince HarryandPrince Williamin the lasttwo seasons ofThe Crown, which focused on the royal’s final days before herfatal car crash in August 1997. She’s nominated for outstanding supporting actress in a drama for her performance at the2024 Emmys.Elizabeth Debicki.Rosaline Shahnavaz"I was so thrilled that so many of us have been nominated,” Debicki says of her costars’ nods (the Netflix show snagged a total of 18 nominations this year). “That just feels like the cherry on the cake really of such a nice thing.“She continues, “The show’s been running for a long time and my cast and I have been kind of on this ride for nearly three years in a way, in terms of prep and then shooting and press, and so it’s just a lovely end to a long and beautiful — but sometimes really challenging — chapter as actors.“Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest storiesDebicki says the most “inspiring” part about playing the royal was seeing the “progression” of Princess Diana’scharitable work. ‘[The] activism sense of her life was something she really believed in, and she did so much work for so many causes that people weren’t really paying attention to.““She really put herself on the line to draw awareness around them… you can take it for granted now, in a way that’s so much more common, and we have so many more platforms for that. But at the time it was so radical, and I think learning about how much she really personally did that work, that was very kind of fascinating and beautiful to learn about.“In November 2023, the actress told PEOPLE thatthe weight of playing Dianafor the Netflix series was not lost on her, sharing, “I did a lot of research for this role. I probably spent about a year doing research and that just filled in all these pieces and made me have such deep, deep respect and love for this person who I didn’t know so much about.”For more on Elizabeth Debicki, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday, or subscribehere.All six seasons ofThe Crownare streaming on Netflix.

Elizabeth Debicki.Photo:Rosaline Shahnavaz

Rosaline Shahnavaz

Elizabeth Debickiadmittedly had a hard time letting go of portrayingPrincess Dianain her Emmy-nominated performance inThe Crown. In this week’s issue, the actress, 33, opens up about playing the late royal — and the mannerisms that took her a long time to shake.The Australian actress says that she found herself emulating Princes Diana “for a long while” after wrapping the series’ sixth and final season.“My voice changed quite a bit and I kind of had to consciously bring it back to my own voice where my voice wants to sit and also my own accent,” she explains. “I had to work so hard at getting the voice that I sort of ingrained it so deeply in myself that I had to unwind the wheel.“Elizabeth Debicki as Princess Diana in ‘The Crown’.Netflix / Courtesy: Everett CollectionDebicki notes that she was “doing quite a lot of physical stuff as well” and would catch herself “doing a lot of head tilting.““Someone said to me, ‘I think you’re doing it when you’re trying to convince people something.’ If someone was like, ‘You can’t go that way.’ I [found] myself sort of saying, ‘Are you sure?’ And then I was like, ‘Oh my God, I’m slipping into this.'““That has left me now, but I had to do it consciously,” she adds.Elizabeth Debicki as Princess Diana in ‘The Crown’ ; Diana, The Princess of Wales.Daniel Escale/Netflix ; Mark Cuthbert/UK Press/GettyDebicki portrayed the mother ofPrince HarryandPrince Williamin the lasttwo seasons ofThe Crown, which focused on the royal’s final days before herfatal car crash in August 1997. She’s nominated for outstanding supporting actress in a drama for her performance at the2024 Emmys.Elizabeth Debicki.Rosaline Shahnavaz"I was so thrilled that so many of us have been nominated,” Debicki says of her costars’ nods (the Netflix show snagged a total of 18 nominations this year). “That just feels like the cherry on the cake really of such a nice thing.“She continues, “The show’s been running for a long time and my cast and I have been kind of on this ride for nearly three years in a way, in terms of prep and then shooting and press, and so it’s just a lovely end to a long and beautiful — but sometimes really challenging — chapter as actors.“Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest storiesDebicki says the most “inspiring” part about playing the royal was seeing the “progression” of Princess Diana’scharitable work. ‘[The] activism sense of her life was something she really believed in, and she did so much work for so many causes that people weren’t really paying attention to.““She really put herself on the line to draw awareness around them… you can take it for granted now, in a way that’s so much more common, and we have so many more platforms for that. But at the time it was so radical, and I think learning about how much she really personally did that work, that was very kind of fascinating and beautiful to learn about.“In November 2023, the actress told PEOPLE thatthe weight of playing Dianafor the Netflix series was not lost on her, sharing, “I did a lot of research for this role. I probably spent about a year doing research and that just filled in all these pieces and made me have such deep, deep respect and love for this person who I didn’t know so much about.”For more on Elizabeth Debicki, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday, or subscribehere.All six seasons ofThe Crownare streaming on Netflix.

Elizabeth Debickiadmittedly had a hard time letting go of portrayingPrincess Dianain her Emmy-nominated performance inThe Crown. In this week’s issue, the actress, 33, opens up about playing the late royal — and the mannerisms that took her a long time to shake.

The Australian actress says that she found herself emulating Princes Diana “for a long while” after wrapping the series’ sixth and final season.

“My voice changed quite a bit and I kind of had to consciously bring it back to my own voice where my voice wants to sit and also my own accent,” she explains. “I had to work so hard at getting the voice that I sort of ingrained it so deeply in myself that I had to unwind the wheel.”

Elizabeth Debicki as Princess Diana in ‘The Crown’.Netflix / Courtesy: Everett Collection

Netflix / Courtesy: Everett Collection

Debicki notes that she was “doing quite a lot of physical stuff as well” and would catch herself “doing a lot of head tilting.”

“Someone said to me, ‘I think you’re doing it when you’re trying to convince people something.’ If someone was like, ‘You can’t go that way.’ I [found] myself sort of saying, ‘Are you sure?’ And then I was like, ‘Oh my God, I’m slipping into this.'”

“That has left me now, but I had to do it consciously,” she adds.

Elizabeth Debicki as Princess Diana in ‘The Crown’ ; Diana, The Princess of Wales.Daniel Escale/Netflix ; Mark Cuthbert/UK Press/Getty

Daniel Escale/Netflix ; Mark Cuthbert/UK Press/Getty

Debicki portrayed the mother ofPrince HarryandPrince Williamin the lasttwo seasons ofThe Crown, which focused on the royal’s final days before herfatal car crash in August 1997. She’s nominated for outstanding supporting actress in a drama for her performance at the2024 Emmys.

Elizabeth Debicki.Rosaline Shahnavaz

“I was so thrilled that so many of us have been nominated,” Debicki says of her costars’ nods (the Netflix show snagged a total of 18 nominations this year). “That just feels like the cherry on the cake really of such a nice thing.”

She continues, “The show’s been running for a long time and my cast and I have been kind of on this ride for nearly three years in a way, in terms of prep and then shooting and press, and so it’s just a lovely end to a long and beautiful — but sometimes really challenging — chapter as actors.”

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories

Debicki says the most “inspiring” part about playing the royal was seeing the “progression” of Princess Diana’scharitable work. ‘[The] activism sense of her life was something she really believed in, and she did so much work for so many causes that people weren’t really paying attention to.”

“She really put herself on the line to draw awareness around them… you can take it for granted now, in a way that’s so much more common, and we have so many more platforms for that. But at the time it was so radical, and I think learning about how much she really personally did that work, that was very kind of fascinating and beautiful to learn about.”

In November 2023, the actress told PEOPLE thatthe weight of playing Dianafor the Netflix series was not lost on her, sharing, “I did a lot of research for this role. I probably spent about a year doing research and that just filled in all these pieces and made me have such deep, deep respect and love for this person who I didn’t know so much about.”

For more on Elizabeth Debicki, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday, or subscribehere.

All six seasons ofThe Crownare streaming on Netflix.

source: people.com