"The Crown" Is Coming To An End, But Not Before Tackling One More Unforgettable Royal Era — Here's What We Know
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
The Crown has been one of Netflix's most major series since its debut in the fall of 2016 — fans are both looking forward to and dreading the end of the series with the upcoming sixth season. Here's everything we know about what the last season of this masterful historical drama:
1.The final season of The Crown will be the first season of the series to be produced and released since Queen Elizabeth II's death.
According to Variety, the series suspended production on the day of the queen's death, the following day, and the day of her funeral. Data from Whip Media shared by The Guardian also indicates that viewership of the series, which follows the late monarch's historic and eventful reign, rose more than 800% in the United Kingdom and quadrupled on average globally the weekend after the queen's death in comparison to the weekend prior.
2.While we all wish the show could go on forever, this will definitely be the series' final season.
In an interview on Broadcast Now, producer Suzanne Mackie explained why creator Peter Morgan was adamant about ending with Season 6.
"Peter has said it very articulately, that he simply can’t write something unless there has been time to gain a proper perspective," she noted. "I don’t think he’ll deviate from that."
"We all know these stories, but what Peter does so brilliantly is get underneath that, and understand the landscape in a more nuanced, complex, surprising way," she continued.
"The minute he starts trying to do that sooner, it will inevitably feel contrived or artificial. So, although this has been an absolute career highlight for me, it will absolutely be time to move on."
3.The principal cast of Season 5 will all return for the final season.
Imelda Staunton continues to play Queen Elizabeth II, with Jonathan Pryce as her Prince Philip. Dominic West continues his stint as Prince Charles, with Elizabeth Debicki as Diana.
4.Actor Viola Prettejohn will appear as a fourth iteration of Queen Elizabeth II as a teenage princess strolling with her sister, Princess Margaret, on VE Day, May 8, 1945.
It is also rumored that the show will be paying tribute to the late monarch by bringing back Claire Foy and Olivia Colman, who played her during the earlier seasons.
5.The timeline of Season 6 will begin in 1997 and is expected to go into the early 2000s, per British Vogue.
6.That means we won't ever see Meghan Markle on the show, which Peter Morgan himself confirmed in a 2020 chat with The Hollywood Reporter.
"I just think you get so much more interesting [with time]. Meghan and Harry are in the middle of their journey, and I don’t know what their journey is or how it will end. One wishes some happiness, but I’m much more comfortable writing about things that happened at least 20 years ago," he explained.
"I sort of have in my head a 20-year rule. That is enough time and enough distance to really understand something, to understand its role, to understand its position, to understand its relevance. Often things that appear absolutely wildly important today are instantly forgotten, and other things have a habit of sticking around and proving to be historically very relevant and long-lasting. I don’t know where in the scheme of things Prince Andrew or indeed Meghan Markle or Harry will ever appear. We won’t know, and you need time to stop something being journalistic. And so I don’t want to write about them because to write about them would instantly make it journalistic. And there are plenty of journalists already writing about them."
7.The filming surrounding Princess Diana's death, which will be a major point in the season, was surrounded by "a certain anxiety," a source close to production told Deadline.
"We've been dreading getting to this point. The countdown is two weeks and while we’re calmly carrying on it’s fair to acknowledge that there’s a certain anxiety, a palpable sense of being slightly on edge. I mean, there’s bombshell sensitivity surrounding this one," the source said.
8.There won't be any attempts to recreate Diana's fatal car crash, nor will footage of the crash appear.
Deadline's source also indicated that in efforts to handle the tragic story delicately, there won't be anything too gory or visually jarring.
"It’s the run-up: the car leaving The Ritz after midnight with paparazzi in pursuit and then the aftermath with the British Ambassador to France swinging into action with the Foreign Office and then the subsequent constitutional aftermath."
9.Two actors will portray Prince William.
Rufus Kampa will play William as a 15-year-old, while Ed McVey (pictured above) will play the future monarch as a young adult.
10.Meg Bellamy will play Kate Middleton in her college years
11.We actually got our first look at Ed McVey and Meg Bellamy as William and Kate:
12.Prince Harry will be played by Luther Ford.
13.Prince Harry's 2005 Nazi costume scandal will be, at minimum, addressed within the season's events.
Photos from filming with a newspaper headline reveal that Prince Harry's controversial costume at a "Native and Colonials" party that got him in hot water with the press and the royal family is part of the action, though not to what degree it will be discussed.
14.While we don't have an official date on the calendar just yet, The Crown Season 6 is set for release this fall.
