Summary
- Victoria Stable, a legendary archivist, played a crucial role in ensuring historical accuracy in all six seasons of The Crown.
- Stable’s knowledge and ability to find rare footage helped give The Crown its solid reputation.
- Season 6 of The Crown is dedicated to Stable, who sadly passed away in 2023, and her contributions are irreplaceable to the series.
Viewers who have watched the latest episodes of The Crown might be wondering who Victoria Stable is — and why The Crown season 6 is dedicated to her. Netflix’s prestigious, multi-Emmy Award-winning drama returned for the first part of its sixth and final season, offering four new episodes that mainly orbit around Princess Diana (Elizabeth Debicki), now Prince Charles’ (Dominic West) ex-wife, and her tragic death. Of course, the life and reign of Queen Elizabeth II (Imelda Staunton) still looms large, and will remain the key focus of the drama’s season 6, volume 2 — a six-episode run that hits Netflix on December 14.
While The Crown season 6’s cast remains as impressive as ever, the show has fumbled its unerring legacy. As the series nears modern-day events, it struggles to do its subjects justice without giving into melodrama. On the other hand, the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, proves challenging to serialize because of the reaction the tragedy still evokes. The worst-reviewed installment of The Crown, the sixth season still has time to do right by the show’s remarkable first four chapters. Despite the dip in reviews, season 6 still has its high notes and intrigue, often due to the fact that The Crown maintains its penchant for historical accuracy.
The Crown Season 6’s Episodes Are Dedicated To Legendary Archivist Victoria Stable
When it comes to ensuring (and preserving) historical accuracy in programs like The Crown, legendary archivist Victoria Stable is a crucial part of the process. Throughout all six seasons of The Crown, Stable made sure the Royal Family, and the British Government at large, were depicted accurately. It’s this work that Stable did, imparting knowledge to writers, actors, and directors, that helped give The Crown such a solid reputation. “I’m responsible for finding anything that has any copyright invested in it that doesn’t belong to The Crown… be it sound or moving footage,” the archive producer explained on the show’s official podcast (via The Crown: The Official Podcast).
A remarkably experienced film researcher, Stable boasted a wealth of knowledge about the subject, and a knack for finding rare footage for the actors and writers. Sadly, Stable passed away in May 2023, after completing work on The Crown‘s sixth and final season (via FOCAL International). In the credits of The Crown, season 6, episode 4, “Aftermath,” viewers can see a dedication to the archive producer, which reads: “In Memoriam, Victoria Stable, 1955–2023.” Even though Stable’s dedication appears in the end of The Crown season 6, part 1, she did work on the final episodes of the show as well. Clearly, the series wouldn’t be the same without her contributions.
Victoria Stable’s Other TV Show & Movie Credits Explained
While The Crown is perhaps Victoria Stable’s most well-known credit — and certainly the one poised to have a lasting impact — the renowned archive producer worked in film for decades. In the mid-2000s, she worked on The Blair Years, a documentary about Tony Blair narrated by Succession‘s Matthew Macfadyen, and, a decade later, she worked on Henry Singer’s 2017 documentary Diana, 7 Days — an intimate look at how Diana’s death impacted her family, and the world. Stable’s other projects of note include the Michaela Cole-starring film Black Earth Rising, the miniseries The Little Drummer Girl, and the docudrama Gun No. 6.
Sources: The Crown: The Official Podcast, FOCAL International
