PLATELL’S PEOPLE: Why can’t The Crown leave poor Diana alone? The Netflix show exploits her in the tackiest way possible

Ahead of the final series of Netflix’s The Crown, which covers the period surrounding Princess Diana’s death, creator Peter Morgan told Variety magazine he was pushing back on suggestions he was planning to exploit her death for profit.

Indeed, he “feared” writing her into the series and even considered “avoiding her completely.”

His sensitivities were such that he insisted, “Oh God, we would never show the crash. Never!’

Newly released trailers suggest he is true to his word, no Diana in a car crash next to Dodi Fayed in a tunnel in Paris. That’s why, I think, he ingeniously decided to bring Diana back as a ghost.

Morgan claims that his appearance of Diana stemmed from his sincere desire for her to “continue to live vividly in the minds of those she left behind,” adding that “narratively speaking, she deserved special treatment.”

Well, she certainly got that – like a weird ghost.

In one scene, actress Elizabeth Debicki appears as a dead Diana over Queen Elizabeth’s shoulder, telling her, “You’ve finally managed to turn this house upside down.” It is nothing less than a revolution.’

Everyone knows that the dignity and restraint of the late queen would never have allowed her to utter such unspeakable nonsense.

Diana also appears before Prince Charles as he sobs over her body in the morgue, telling him, “I loved you so much.”

Pardon my cynicism, but what nonsense.

Morgan says he didn’t want to include Diana in the final series, but he exploited her in the tackiest way possible, like a TV version of Demi Moore reliving her lost love with Patrick Swayze in Ghost, only minus the pottery lessons.

Why couldn’t The Crown leave Diana alone all this time after her tragic death? Perhaps Morgan realized that a final episode without her would be a complete flop.

Why else would he use one of the last photos of the late princess to publicize the series – the photo of her desperately sitting on a diving board above the Mediterranean in a swimsuit?

Princess Diana is and remains blockbuster gold: the glittering jewel in the crown of The Crown.

And no matter what he says, Morgan uses her to the end and beyond.

As awareness of menopause continues to increase, researchers claim that it is not just humans, but also chimpanzees who are suffering from the change.

The big difference between us and monkeys is that they don’t worry about the condition.

Ageism is the Pitts!

Sarah Jessica Parker, 58, is tired of being asked about getting older, saying the majority of male stars her age aren’t.

When was the last time we read about 59-year-old Brad Pitt’s self-care regimen?

SJP’s routine for timeless beauty is Roc Moisturizer, a serum and night cream, but definitely not Botox.

“I’m an actor, I have to move my eyebrows,” she says.

The jury’s out on that one: we haven’t seen her raise an eyebrow since the last episode of Sex In The City in the 1990s.

The last of the RAF ‘Guinea Pigs’, Jan Stangryciuk-Black, has died aged 101, one of several badly burned World War II pilots treated by pioneering plastic surgeon Archibald McIndoe.

Battered survivors like Jan were all accepted by pubgoers in East Grinstead, earning it the accolade of ‘the town that didn’t stare’.

Trebles all round for such wartime heroics.

Think about the humiliated Harry

Two years after Harry and Meghan’s impressive interview with Oprah Winfrey, the Sussexes are being mocked in the American cartoon series Family Guy.

A butler brings Harry a check on a platter as they sunbathe in their Californian mansion and says, “Sir, your millions from Netflix for . . . no one knows what.’

Once celebrated in America, they are now ridiculed.

Unfortunately, Harry has proven that he is not even an interesting spare part anymore, just an object of ridicule.

Peter knows Ab’s story

A search is underway for a successor to Holly Willoughby on This Morning.

Abbey Clancy at 12/1 is the dark horse.

Like Holly, she is beautiful, happily married with children. And if ITV were lucky enough to get hubby Peter Crouch on the sofa next to her, there would be no chance of her co-presenter being found hiding in the cupboard.

A study shows that people are more attached to dogs than cats, based on how much money they spend on their pets.

My moggie Ted would like to point out the flaws in that argument: cats don’t need baths, salon visits, walkers, and stupid coats in the winter.

Ted is certain that people are only spending more on dogs because they have to.

Ken’s revenge on Beeb

After being forced out of Radio 2, Ken Bruce joined Greatest Hits Radio and took with him 800,000 listeners.

How striking that the last song he played on the Beeb was the Beatles’ Golden Slumbers with the line: ‘Once upon a time there was a way to get back home’, which he did – but on a station that appreciated him.

What justification can there be for James Bulger’s killer Jon Venables to hold his final parole hearing in private? His lawyers argue that holding it in public would damage his mental health. What about the mental health of James’ mother Denise Fergus, who has been grieving for 30 years?

Two reminders of the horrors of war: first, Palestinian children writing their names on their hands so that they can be identified if they are killed.

Secondly, the fact that Israeli scientists still cannot name butchered children, with one saying being: ‘Babies are harder to identify because they have no teeth.’

Westminster Wars

Nearly a quarter of Labor MPs are challenging Keir Starmer to call for a ceasefire in Gaza – as councilors marched in protest.

Starmer thought he had wiped out the Corbynites, who hate Israel. I would suggest he didn’t.

MAYBE not a good idea that Rishi, after two by-election defeats that left the Conservatives trailing by 20 points in the polls, would give a speech on the existential threat of artificial intelligence to humanity.

Many Tory voters see his robotic achievements as an existential threat to the party.

Rachel Reeves is accused of copying passages from her new book, The Women Who Made Modern Economics, from Wikipedia.

Let’s hope her shadow budget isn’t plagiarized from the woefully inaccurate Wiki.

Vogue boss is a big Ed

Vogue editor-in-chief Edward Enninful has been named Britain’s most influential black person on the 2024 Powerlist.

He says the list “shines a light on Black people” who are “standing up for what it means to be truly diverse.”

Crikey, who edits a magazine featuring designer dresses for mostly wealthy white women, hardly singles out Ed as a champion for inclusivity.

Queen of the bonkbuster Jilly Cooper says that ‘at 86 I’ve forgotten how to write sex scenes’.

False modesty! As the ambiguous title of her novel Tackle! If we can trust it, her memories of the bedsprings are in good condition.

The NHS is filling the newspapers with scary cancer awareness ads. Very good, but how many of us can go in and see a GP?

And if we succeed, what’s the point if we end up at the bottom of a waiting list of 7.7 million?