'' THE CROWN '' TOP : NETFLIX SERIES HONOURS

LONDON : Netflix's acclaimed series The Crown chronicling the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, draws to a close, focusing on a subject still highly sensitive to the British Monarchy - the death of Princess Diana.

The sixth and final season of the award winning but often-criticised show created by Peter Morgan is being released in two parts.

The first five episodes premiered on Friday, followed by the final five on December 14, culminating in 60 hours of narrative that began in 2016.

The drama covers the late queen's journey from her 1947 marriage to Philip up to the early 2000s introduction of Kate Middleton, the current Princess of Wales.

This season depicts the final weeks of Princess's Diana's life, following her tumultuous divorce from the now King Charles III, leading up to her tragic demise on August 31, 1997.

Pursued by paparazzi, the BMW carrying Diana and her lover Dodi AL-Fayed crashed at high speed into a pillar in Paris's Alma tunnel, killing her, Fayed and driver Henri Paul.

The royal family took years to recover after criticism of their reaction to the loss of Diana, whom Tony Blair famously dubbed ''the people's princess.''

'' It's a very sensitive subject because it was such a significant event in the life of the monarchy and the royal family, and because people related to Diana are still very much alive, most notably her now adult sons William and Harry,'' royal historian Ed Owens told AFP

'' It's the seminal moment that the series has been building up to since series one.  The question remains whether Peter Morgan is a friend or an enemy of the monarchy.

This series will give us a fuller understanding of whether he thinks it is an institution that has made big mistakes and which needs to modernise. 

Or whether it's an institution that has managed to modernise successfully since 1997.''