The Crown season 6: confirmed release date, trailer, cast, plot and everything we know

The Crown season 6 sees the Netflix royal saga finally ending — and what a ride it's been.

The final season will begin in 1997 and feature the tragic death of Princess Diana in a Paris car crash, one of the most infamous events in royal history.

Talking about how the makers are tackling the difficult subject of Diana's death, executive producer Suzanne Mackie told The Hollywood Reporter: "Some of it is very painfully sad because it deals with the death of Diana — over three episodes we follow what happens to Diana and the build-up to her death, the final days in Paris.

"It’s very sad, and it feels very real and vivid [and] I hope very respectful and beautiful. I think it will be a surprise for the audience because in many ways, where we go after Diana, it’s very hard. We have found a really beautiful new chapter, which is via Prince William and Kate Middleton, and it feels like little flowers coming up out of the earth after Diana's death."

Creator of the Emmy-winning show Peter Morgan had planned to make just five series of the drama, yet changed his mind in 2020 after meeting with the team behind the show.

"As we started to discuss the storylines for series five, 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," he said in an official statement.

Here's everything we know about The Crown season 6 so far...

The Crown season 6 release date

Netflix has confirmed the 10-part series will land on the streaming site in two parts.

The first part of season 6 will be made of four episodes and will be released worldwide on Thursday, 16 November 2023.

The second part will have six episodes that will be released worldwide on Thursday, 14 December 2023.

Netflix has released new posters for the launch of each part which you can see below...

The Crown season 6 plot

Season 6 covers events from 1997 through to 2005, broadly spanning the tenure of Tony Blair, who is played by Bertie Carvel.

Part 1 of season 6 is made up of four episodes which will depict a relationship blossoming between Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed before a fateful car journey has devastating consequences. Elizabeth Debicki will reprise her role as Princess Diana alongside Dominic West as Prince Charles, while also returning are Salim Daw (Mohamed Al Fayed) and Khalid Abdalla (Dodi Fayed).

Imelda Staunton is back as she continues her reign as Queen Elizabeth II alongside Jonathan Pryce as Prince Philip and Lesley Manville as Princess Margaret, and making their debuts are Rufus Kampa as Prince William and Fflyn Edwards as Prince Harry.

The final chapter, released as season 6 part 2 in December, is told across six episodes in which Prince William tries to integrate back into life at Eton in the wake of his mother’s death, while the monarchy rides the wave of public opinion.

As the series comes to an end we will see the Queen reflect on the future of the monarchy as she reaches her Golden Jubilee, with the marriage of Charles and Camilla and the beginnings of a new Royal fairytale in William and Kate also featuring heavily.

For Part 2, taking on the roles of Prince William and Prince Harry will be Ed McVey and Luther Ford. Joining them will be Meg Bellamy as Kate Middleton. These will be debut roles for all three actors.

It has also been revealed that the show won't go beyond the early 2000s in the new series, meaning recent events such as Prince Andrew's fall from grace and Harry and Meghan's departure for the United States won't be shown.

Prince William's wedding to Kate Middleton, which took place in 2011, is also expected to come too late to be featured in the sixth series, yet there are plenty of powerful topics for The Crown season 6 to explore, not least the deaths of Princess Margaret and the Queen Mother, who both passed away in 2002.

The Crown season 6 cast

Most of the cast from season 5 will be returning for season 6 and the following stars will be stepping back into the world of the Windsors...

• Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth II
• Jonathan Pryce as Prince Philip
• Lesley Manville as Princess Margaret
• Jonny Lee Miller as John Major
• Dominic West as Charles, Prince of Wales
• Elizabeth Debicki as Diana, Princess of Wales
• Marcia Warren as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother
• Olivia Williams as Camilla Parker Bowles
• Claudia Harrison as Princess Anne
• James Murray as Prince Andrew
• Khalid Abdalla as Dodi Fayed
• Bertie Carvel as Tony Blair

Yet there will be some new arrivals, with two actors set to replace Senan West as Prince William, who goes from a teenager to a young adult in this final run. Rufus Kampa will play William as a 15 year-old and as the series unfolds he will be replaced by Ed McVey. Ed posted an image of the two stars on his Instagram account in September 2022...

In an intriguing twist, Loose Women star Kelly Brook will also be cropping up in the sixth series, not as a cast member — but as a poster!

"I got an email from my agent. She said: 'We have had a picture clearance request for one of your images to be used on The Crown season six. It would be printed as a poster and it would be put in one of the character's dressing rooms,'" Brook told The Daily Star.

"That's definitely got to be a teenage boy's bedroom," Kelly added. "Could I be on the wall of Prince Harry or Prince William's bedroom at Buckingham Palace? Was I a pin-up for them back in the 90s? How old were they then? Well, this is incredible. Of course, I have said yes."

The Crown season 6 trailer

While we are yet to be treated to a full trailer, there was a short trailer released along with the announcement of the season 6 release date.

In the trailer, we can see Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth II speaking about the sense of duty she feels being a monarch and how it has shaped her life. You can watch the trailer below...

Who'll be playing Kate Middleton in The Crown season 6?

Ed McVey will be playing Prince William when he heads off for university, which is when he meets his future wife, Kate Middleton.

It's been revealed that newcomer Meg Bellamy will be playing Kate and we look forward to getting a glimpse of their first meeting at The University of St Andrews in Scotland.

We even got our first look at Meg, who'll star alongside Ed McVey as Prince William, when Netflix released first-look pictures of the couple on set recently.

Check out the first look at Prince William and Kate Middleton in The Crown.

How will The Crown end?

There are no details of how The Crown will finally sign off after seven years on our screens and Peter Morgan is famous for surprising viewers with his handling of the Windsor family's most famous moments.

However, some have suggested the Queen's Golden Jubilee of 2002, when she celebrated 50 years on the throne, would be a perfect ending to what Morgan has described as a 'love letter' to Her Majesty.