A focus of season six, episode two of The Crown is Princess Diana’s August 1997 visit to Bosnia, where she goes to meet with survivors of landmines—a part of the princess’s work advocating against landmines. In these scenes, the Netflix royal drama recreates Diana’s famous walk through an active minfield.
However, this walk did not take place in Bosnia. In fact, it took place in Angola, in January 1997. The show likely combined her trip to Angola into the Bosnia trip for ease of storytelling, and to highlight the bravery of Diana’s walk—which was very real.
Princess Diana in Angola, January 1997; Elizabeth Debicki in The Crown.
On January 5, 1997, Princess Diana—wearing protective body armor and a clear visor—walked through a landmine field in Huambo, Angola being cleared by the HALO Trust, a nonprofit that focuses on clearing landmines.
“Diana’s visit is something that people in Huambo still talk about today,” Ralph Legg, a manager at HALO Trust, told Time Magazine. “For the people that were here at that time, which was obviously still a time of conflict, it led to a feeling of acknowledgement, and that their plight was recognized around the world. The people I’ve spoken to who met Diana on that trip have all said how kind, considerate and how genuinely interested she seemed in them.”
HALO’s executive director, Chris Whatley, recalled to People, “As soon as Princess Diana made her walk, it became a front of mind issue. It took the convening power of Princess Diana to do that, to put it on the world stage to create that public momentum that, that allows for the political support, the rallying that continues to this day.”
Years later, in 2019, Prince Harry would recreate this famous walk. “The attention my mother brought to this issue wasn’t universally popular; some believed she had stepped over the line into the arena of political campaigning—but for her this wasn’t about politics; it was about people,” Prince Harry said.
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex walks through a minefield during a visit to see the work of landmine clearance charity the Halo Trust, on day five of the royal tour of Africa on September 27, 2019 in Dirico, Angola.
So while The Crown didn’t capture exactly correctly where Princess Diana’s walk through a landmine field today, they absolutely captured the spirit of her advocacy.
Emily Burack (she/her) is the news writer for Town & Country, where she covers entertainment, culture, the royals, and a range of other subjects. Before joining T&C, she was the deputy managing editor at Hey Alma, a Jewish culture site. Follow her @emburack on Twitter and Instagram.