First look at The Crown season 6: Princess Diana’s poignant final summer and blossoming romance with Dodi before her death takes centre stage in final season of the Netflix hit

Netflix has released first look images from the upcoming sixth and final series of The Crown.

The last instalment of the royal drama will air in two parts, with the first half of the series dropping on Netflix on November 16, and the second on December 14.

There are four episodes in the first part of the season, with six in the second part. 

A statement by the streaming giant about the last season revealed that the season cover the time period around the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, as well as covering the meeting of Prince William and Kate Middleton in the early 2000s.

It says: ‘A relationship blossoms between Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed before a fateful car journey has devastating consequences.

Images from the first four episodes of the sixth and final series of The Crown have been released by Netflix (pictured L-R: Fflyn Edwards as Prince Harry, Elizabeth Debicki as Diana, Princess of Wales, Rufus Kampa as Prince William)

The new series picks up where the last one ended and finishes in the early 2000s (pictured L-R: Rufus Kampa plays Prince William, Dominic West as Prince Charles, and Fflyn Edwards as Prince Harry)

‘Prince William tries to integrate back into life at Eton in the wake of his mother’s death as the monarchy has to ride the wave of public opinion. 

‘As she reaches her Golden Jubilee, the Queen reflects on the future of the monarchy with the marriage of Charles and Camilla and the beginnings of a new Royal fairytale in William and Kate.’

Season 6 of the programme picks up where season 5 left off, and picks up with Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales, spending Summer apart for the first time as a now-divorced couple.

The two parents are seen having two very different holidays with their sons Prince William and Prince Harry (who are played by Rufus Kampa and Fflyn Edwards respectively in the first part of the last series).

According to executive producer Suzanne Mackie: ‘We’re very much in the beginning of the Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed story.

‘From the second she steps onto that boat and [you begin to see] some of those iconic images of her on the yacht, it does take you immediately to the whirlwind that was the press speculation around that romance.’

Netflix recently released  a first trailer for the upcoming series, showing Imelda Staunton returning as Queen Elizabeth.

It also featured snippets of footage of previous Queen actresses Claire Foy and Olivia Colman in a nod to the series’ decades-spanning journey.

According to executive producer Suzanne Mackie, the series starts ‘very much in the beginning of the Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed story’ (pictured: Elizabeth Debicki as Diana)

Khalid Abdalla played Dodi Al Fayed in the fifth series of the royal drama, and will return for the sixth and final instalment

Imelda Staunton (pictured) is returning to the drama, after playing the role of Queen Elizabeth II in series 5

The crown is a symbol of permeance. It’s something you are, not what you do,’ Foy said, as a television flickered footage of her in character to begin the trailer.

She first starred as the monarch in seasons one and two of The Crown, and played a young Queen Elizabeth.

‘Some portion of our natural selves is always lost. We have all made sacrifices. It is not a choice. It is a duty,’ Colman then echoed.

The video rolled to a framed photo of her in character as the sovereign, who she played in seasons three and four

The clip dramatically then cut to Staunton in costume, quietly holding her hands before stepping out onto a Buckingham Palace-like balcony to greet a cheering crowd.

Elizabeth Debicki (pictured) reprises her role as Diana, Princess of Wales, who she played in series 5 of the drama

Salim Daw (pictured) as Mohamed al-Fayed is another familiar face, as he is also reprising his role from the previous series

The final series will cover the period up to the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, but will not show a dramatisation of the fatal collision that killed her, say reports

‘But what about the life, I put aside? The wouldn’t — I put aside?’ Staunton’s voice then questioned.

It was previously thought that the drama would run for five seasons, but then creator Peter Morgan decided to go back to his original plan of having six instalments of the show. 

He told Deadline: ‘As we started to discuss the storylines for Series 5, it soon became clear that in order to do justice to the richness and complexity of the story we should go back to the original plan and do six seasons.

‘To be clear, Series 6 will not bring us any closer to present-day it will simply enable us to cover the same period in greater detail.’ 

Season 6, Part 1 of The Crown premieres on Netflix on November 16. Part 2 premieres on December 14.