Here's Everything We Know So Far About 'The Crown' Season 6

Royal watchers, get ready for the sixth and final season of 'The Crown.'

Queen Elizabeth's reign will be coming to an end on Netflix's The Crown. The Emmy and Golden Globe-winning series, which first premiered in 2016, will return for a sixth and final season featuring portrayals of Queen Elizabeth II, as well as Princess Diana, Prince Charles, Prince William, Kate Middleton, Prince Harry and more. Fans of the royal drama were delighted in 2020 when Netflix announced that The Crown would be extended to six seasons after it was originally expected to end after five.

"As we started to discuss the storylines for season 5, 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," series creator Peter Morgan explained in a statement.

Until that sixth and final season arrives, keep calm and read on for everything we know so far about season 6 of The Crown.

When is The Crown season 6 release date?

A release date for season 6 has not been announced, but in the meantime, fans can look forward to season 5 of The Crown premiering Nov. 9 2022.

Related: Did Someone Say Double-Take?! See How the Season 4 Cast of The Crown Compares to the Real Royals They Play

Has The Crown started filming season 6?

The sixth season is filming now—in fall 2022, but we likely won't see the final season until 2023.

How to watch season 6 of The Crown?

Like seasons 1 through 5, season 6 will be available to stream exclusively on Netflix. As Netflix rolls out an ad-supported tier, you'll need to pony for the ad-free experience to watch The Crown.

Can you stream The Crown with ads on Netflix?

Nope. Netflix announced that The Crown as well as several other key Netflix originals (Cobra Kai, House of Cards, Peaky Blinders, among others) will not be on the ad-supported tier.

Who will play Princess Diana in season 6 of The Crown?

Elizabeth Debicki will make her debut as Princess Diana in season 5 and will then continue to play "The People's Princess" in The Crown's sixth and final season. The Tenet actress took over the role from Golden Globe winner Emma Corrin, who played the Princess of Wales in season 4.

“Princess Diana’s spirit, her words and her actions live in the hearts of so many,” Debicki said in a statement after news of her casting was announced. “It is my true privilege and honor to be joining this masterful series, which has had me absolutely hooked from episode one.”

Who will play Queen Elizabeth in season 6 of The Crown?

Harry Potter actress Imelda Staunton's reign as QEII begins with season 5 and will continue in season 6.

“I’m delighted to be here, inheriting the role of Queen Elizabeth from two outstanding actresses. Most recently, the wonderful Olivia Colman, and who could forget the actress who originated the part, Claire Foy,” Staunton said in a 2021 message from the season 5 set. “I will do my utmost to maintain the very high standard that they set. Hopefully, I look calm, collected and capable. My stomach, meanwhile, is doing somersaults.”

Who is in The Crown season 6 cast?

In addition to Debicki and Staunton, The Crown's final season will also star Jonathan Pyrce, who joined the Netflix series as Her Majesty's husband, Prince Philip, in season 5, and Dominic West, who replaces Josh O’Connor as the Queen's firstborn, Prince Charles, in season 5.

Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth II

Imelda Staunton wears the crown once more in The Crown season 6. She will also star in season 5. She said in an announcement, “I’m delighted to be here, inheriting the role of Queen Elizabeth from two outstanding actresses. I will do my utmost to maintain the very high standard that they set. Hopefully, I look calm, capable, and collected. My stomach, meanwhile, is doing somersaults.”

Elizabeth Debicki as Princess Diana

Emma Corrin was an absolute revelation as Princess Diana, and she passes the torch to Elizabeth Debicki for seasons 5 and 6. The statuesque Aussie actor is a spitting image of the People's Princess in photos from filming.

Dominic West as Prince Charles

Dominic West told producers that he actually thought they made a mistake casting him as Prince Charles, who he'd met several times.

"It's quite disconcerting as I didn't look anything like him when I looked in the mirror," West told the Daily Mail. "I kept telling the producers that they had cast the wrong person. But they explained that this was not a show of imitations, but that was difficult as this is a real person who is hugely famous and recognizable."

Rufus Kampa as Prince William (Age 15)

In September 2022, the streaming giant announced that two actors had been cast to play Prince William in season 6. Rufus Kampa will play the Prince aged 15.

Ed McVey as adult Prince William

Prince William in his later teenage years will be portrayed by Ed McVey.

Meg Bellamy as Kate Middleton

Kate Middleton, whom Prince William met in college, will also be depicted in the final season of the drama. Meg Bellamy, a 19-year-old from Berkshire, is set to play the now-Duchess of Cambridge.

Related: Meet The Crown‘s Real-Life Royal Fans and Foes! 

What will season 6 of The Crown be about?

An official synopsis has not yet been released, but when the sixth season was announced, series creator Morgan said, "To be clear, series 6 will not bring us any closer to present day—it will simply enable us to cover the same period in greater detail." season 4 was set between 1979 and 1990, so season 5 will likely take place during the '90s.

William and Harry were 15 and 12, respectively, when their mother Diana died in 1997. Given that a 15-year-old Prince William has been cast it's possible that the sixth season could explore the events that took place after the Princess' untimely death. Sources told Deadline that the crash itself will not be filmed, but that the events leading up to it and its aftermath will be shown on the series. This is largely due to sensitivity issues—even shots of the vehicles near the tunnel where the crash took place likely will not be seen in the show.

Deadline previously reported that "Season 6 will take the story up to the early 2000s." William began his studies at St. Andrews in 2001, where he ended up meeting Kate Middleton. Here's hoping we get the couple's royal romance!

Will Meghan Markle be in season 6 of The Crown?

While the now-Duchess of Wales will be portrayed on The Crown, it seems unlikely that Meghan Markle will be as well. After all, the Duchess of Sussex did not meet Prince Harry until 2016.

In 2020, Morgan told 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. 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."

Morgan also pointed out, "There’ve been wives that have been married into the Royal family that have felt unwelcome and that they don’t fit in. So there are plenty of stories to tell without telling the story of Harry and Meghan."

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