The Crown viewers slam controversial scenes featuring Princess Diana's ghost - and say the royal drama has 'lost the plot'

Viewers have hit out at The Crown for scenes depicting Princess Diana's ghost talking to King Charles and the late Queen Elizabeth. 

Part one of the Netflix hit's sixth series came out, with the emotional four episodes focusing on the late royal's last few days before her death.

However, while many were in tears at how the programme depicted Princes William and Harry's grief - in particular the final phone call they shared with their mother - audiences were largely baffled by the imaginary conversations her non-corporeal spirit had with other royals.

The first instance, in episode four, happens when the then Prince of Wales, played by Dominic West, flies to Paris to collect Diana's body. 

On the flight home, Charles is greeted by Diana's 'ghost' - Elizabeth Debicki - who says: 'Thank you for how you were in the hospital . So raw, broken - and handsome. I’ll take that with me.'

But her ex-husband admits that he's felt 'regret' since her passing, which she reassures 'will pass'. 

Later, she once again materialises after the Queen has a disagreement on how much the Royal Family should be showing their grief for the late Princess.

Diana's ghost appears and takes hold of the Queen's hand. The monarch tells Diana she has started 'a revolution'.

She replies: 'It didn’t need to be. By making an enemy of me - not of me personally - but of what I stand for, then it starts to look like one.'

The spirit then encourages the Queen to show the public she is 'willing to learn'.

Many on X - formerly known as Twitter - found the moments 'ridiculous'.

'Watching The Crown and when Ghost Diana appears on the plane with Charles I seriously got Jurassic Park 3 vibes,' one said.

'I think this show has officially lost the plot.' 

Another branded it 'crass', claiming it 'takes you out of the episode'.

'They really got ghost Diana saving the monarchy,' a third quipped. 'I'm screaming.' 

'First we got Diana on the plane,' the poster later added. 'Now they have ghost Diana say it will be easier with me gone!! This season is wild.' 

Another remarked: 'I get that they are telling a story, but we didn't need ghost Diana & Dodi.'

Some also felt the Princess 'forgiving' Charles was unnecessary, hitting out that they 'did Diana dirty'.

However, many were also quick to jump in and defend the choice. 

'Diana's "ghost" represents that conversation you have in your head with someone who has just died,' one added. 'The sorrow, the regrets, the final parting word you didn't get.'

'IT IS NOT DIANA'S GHOST,' another hit out. 'IT IS A FICTIONAL CONVERSATION IN THE CHARACTER'S HEAD WITH HER, Y'ALL ARE STUPID.'

The emotional first four episodes cover the tragic car crash in Paris that killed Princess Diana in August 1997 – alongside her lover Dodi and their chauffeur Henri Paul – and the Royal Family 's reaction to it, as well as the summer holiday Diana and Dodi enjoyed in St Tropez prior to the tragedy.

The Paris scenes were shot in the French capital, while a yacht was hired for the St Tropez scenes, although these were actually filmed in Mallorca.

For sensitivity reasons the exact moment of Diana's death is not re-created, but there are controversial scenes in which Charles tenderly converses with an imaginary Diana in the cabin of the royal plane as he accompanies her body from Paris to London , and later when she also appears to the Queen.

Critics who have seen these scenes called them 'farcical' for portraying Diana as a ghost, but series creator Peter Morgan has insisted that wasn't the intention.

'I never imagined it as Diana's ghost in the traditional sense,' he told Variety magazine. 'It was her continuing to live vividly in the minds of those she has left behind.'

The Crown was devised by Morgan after the success of his 2006 film about the Royal Family's reaction to Diana's death, The Queen.

And the series – which has earned 21 Emmys and dozens of BAFTA nominations, not to mention some criticism for its historical inaccuracies – covers the same ground, but using fresh information gleaned in the 17 years since the Oscar-winning movie was made.

In fact, the scripts had to be updated all the time as the Royal Family were plunged into headlines throughout the filming period, not only with the Queen's death but also following the release of Prince Harry's memoir Spare.