The Crown is a historical drama television series about the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, created and principally written by Peter Morgan and produced by Left Bank Pictures and Sony Pictures Television for Netflix. Morgan developed the series from his film The Queen (2006) and his stage play The Audience (2013), which also focused on Elizabeth.
The series consists of six seasons spanning almost six decades, beginning shortly before the wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Philip Mountbatten in 1947 and ending with the 2005 wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles. The principal cast of the series has been changed every two seasons; Elizabeth was played by Claire Foy in the first and second seasons, Olivia Colman in the third and fourth, and Imelda Staunton in the fifth and sixth.
Filming took place at Elstree Studios in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, with location shooting taking place in the United Kingdom and internationally. Netflix released the first season on 4 November 2016; the sixth was released in two parts, the first on 16 November 2023 and the second on 14 December 2023.
The Crown has been praised by critics for its acting, directing, writing, cinematography, and production value. However, its historical inaccuracies have been criticised, particularly in the latter half of the series's run. The series has won numerous awards, including a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series and two Golden Globe Awards for Best Television Series-Drama. It is now considered among the greatest television series of the twenty first century.
Plot The Crown portrays the life of Queen Elizabeth II from her wedding in 1947 to Philip Mountbatten, until the early 21st century:
The first season covers 1947 to 1955, including Elizabeth's accession and coronation after the death of George VI, Winston Churchill resigning as prime minister and the Queen's sister Princess Margaret's relationship with Peter Townsend. The second season covers 1956 to 1964, including the Suez Crisis, the tenures of Anthony Eden and Harold Macmillan as prime minister, the Profumo affair, and the births of Prince Andrew and Prince Edward. The third season covers 1964 to 1977, including Harold Wilson and Edward Heath's terms as prime minister, the Aberfan disaster, the introduction of Camilla Shand, and the Queen's Silver Jubilee. The fourth season covers 1979 to 1990, including Margaret Thatcher's tenure as prime minister and the courtship and marriage of Prince Charles to Lady Diana Spencer. The fifth season covers 1991 to 1997, including John Major's tenure as prime minister, the "War of the Waleses" and the resulting divorce of Charles and Diana, the rise of the Al-Fayed family and the Queen's "annus horribilis" of 1992. The sixth and final season covers 1997 to 2005, during the premiership of Tony Blair. The first four episodes cover the death of Diana, and the final six, the Queen's Golden Jubilee, the deaths of Princess Margaret and the Queen Mother, the early relationship of Prince William and Catherine Middleton and the wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles.
Episodes
Cast and characters
Main Claire Foy (seasons 1–2, featured seasons 4 and 6, guest season 5), Olivia Colman (seasons 3–4, featured season 6), and Imelda Staunton (seasons 5–6) as Queen Elizabeth II Matt Smith (seasons 1–2), Tobias Menzies (seasons 3–4), and Jonathan Pryce (seasons 5–6) as Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Vanessa Kirby (seasons 1–2), Helena Bonham Carter (seasons 3–4), and Lesley Manville (seasons 5–6) as Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon Eileen Atkins (season 1) as Queen Mary Jeremy Northam as Anthony Eden (seasons 1–2) Victoria Hamilton (seasons 1–2), Marion Bailey (seasons 3–4), and Marcia Warren (seasons 5–6) as Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Ben Miles (season 1, featured season 2, guest season 5) and Timothy Dalton (featured season 5) as Group Captain Peter Townsend Greg Wise (seasons 1–2) and Charles Dance (season 3, featured season 4) as Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma Jared Harris as King George VI (season 1, featured season 2) John Lithgow as Winston Churchill (season 1, featured seasons 2–3) Alex Jennings (season 1, featured seasons 2 and 5) and Derek Jacobi (featured season 3) as Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor Lia Williams (season 1, featured seasons 2 and 5) and Geraldine Chaplin (featured season 3) as Wallis, Duchess of Windsor Anton Lesser as Harold Macmillan (season 2) Matthew Goode (season 2) and Ben Daniels (season 3) as Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon Jason Watkins as Harold Wilson (season 3) Erin Doherty (seasons 3–4) and Claudia Harrison (seasons 5–6) as Anne, Princess Royal Josh O'Connor (seasons 3–4) and Dominic West (seasons 5–6) as Charles, Prince of Wales Emma Corrin (season 4) and Elizabeth Debicki (seasons 5–6) as Diana, Princess of Wales Gillian Anderson as Margaret Thatcher (season 4) Stephen Boxer as Denis Thatcher (season 4) Emerald Fennell (season 4, featured season 3) and Olivia Williams (seasons 5–6) as Camilla Parker Bowles Jonny Lee Miller (season 5) as John Major Natascha McElhone (season 5) as Penelope "Penny" Knatchbull, Lady Romsey Bertie Carvel (season 6, featured season 5) as Tony Blair Salim Daw (season 6, featured season 5) as Mohamed Al-Fayed Khalid Abdalla (season 6, featured season 5) as Dodi Fayed Ed McVey (season 6) as Prince William of Wales Luther Ford (season 6) as Prince Harry of Wales Meg Bellamy (season 6) as Catherine Middleton
Featured The following actors are credited in the opening titles of up to two episodes in a season: Stephen Dillane as Graham Sutherland, a noted artist who paints a portrait of the ageing Churchill (season 1) Gemma Whelan as Patricia Campbell, a secretary who works with Lord Altrincham and types up his editorial (season 2) John Heffernan as Lord Altrincham, a writer who penned a scathing criticism of Elizabeth II (season 2) Paul Sparks as Billy Graham, a prominent American preacher whom Elizabeth consults (season 2) Michael C. Hall as John F. Kennedy, the president of the United States who visits Elizabeth (season 2) Jodi Balfour as Jacqueline Kennedy, the first lady of the United States who visits Elizabeth (season 2) Burghart Klaußner as Dr Kurt Hahn, the founder of Gordonstoun, where Philip and Charles went to school (season 2) Finn Elliot as school-aged Prince Philip (season 2, guest season 3) Julian Baring as school-aged Prince Charles (season 2) Clancy Brown as Lyndon B. Johnson, the president of the United States following Kennedy (season 3) Jane Lapotaire (season 3), Rosalind Knight (recurring season 1) and Sophie Leigh Stone (recurring season 2) as Alice, Princess Andrew of Greece and Denmark, Philip's mother Mark Lewis Jones as Edward Millward, Prince Charles's Welsh language tutor (season 3) Tim McMullan as Robin Woods, the Dean of Windsor (season 3) Michael Maloney as Edward Heath (season 3) Andrew Buchan (season 3, recurring season 4) and Daniel Flynn (guest season 5) as Andrew Parker Bowles, Camilla's first husband Harry Treadaway as Roddy Llewellyn, Princess Margaret's boyfriend (season 3, guest season 4) Tom Brooke as Michael Fagan, a man who enters the Queen's bedroom in 1982 (season 4) Richard Roxburgh as Bob Hawke, the prime minister of Australia (season 4) Tom Burke as Derek "Dazzle" Jennings, a civil servant and friend of Princess Margaret (season 4) Nicholas Farrell as Michael Shea, Elizabeth's press secretary (season 4) Prasanna Puwanarajah as Martin Bashir, the journalist who conducted "An Interview with HRH The Princess of Wales" (season 5) Eve Best as Carole Middleton, mother of Catherine Middleton (season 6) Viola Prettejohn as teenage Princess Elizabeth (season 6) Beau Gadsdon as teenage Princess Margaret (season 6, recurring season 1, guest season 3)
Production Development In November 2014, it was announced that Netflix was to adapt the 2013 stage play The Audience into a television series. Peter Morgan, who wrote the 2006 film The Queen and the play, is the main scriptwriter for The Crown. The directors of the first season are Stephen Daldry, Philip Martin, Julian Jarrold, and Benjamin Caron. The first 10-part season was the most expensive drama produced by Netflix and Left Bank Pictures, costing at least £100 million. A second season was commissioned, with the series intended to span 60 episodes over six seasons. By October 2017, "early production" had begun on an anticipated third and fourth season. By the following January, Netflix confirmed the series had been renewed for third and fourth seasons.
In January 2020, Morgan announced that the series had been renewed for a fifth and final season. Speaking to ending the series with five seasons, after it had been intended to last six, Morgan said while crafting the stories for season five, "it has become clear to me that this is the perfect time and place to stop"; Netflix and Sony supported Morgan's decision. However, in July 2020, Netflix announced that the series would receive a sixth season as originally intended. Morgan said that when the storylines were being discussed for season 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 added that the final two seasons would enable them "to cover the same period in greater detail". As of 2020, the estimated production budget of The Crown has been reported to be $260 million, making it one of the most expensive television series ever.
Casting By November 2014, Claire Foy had entered negotiations to portray Queen Elizabeth II. By May 2015, Vanessa Kirby was in negotiations to portray Princess Margaret. In June 2015, John Lithgow was cast as Winston Churchill, Matt Smith was cast as Prince Philip, and Foy was confirmed as Queen Elizabeth II. Victoria Hamilton, Jared Harris, and Eileen Atkins were also starring in the first season. Foy reprised her role as the young Queen in cameos in seasons 4, 5 and 6. For her appearance in "48:1", the eighth episode of season 4, Foy won an Emmy.
The producers recast the continuing roles with older actors every two seasons as the timeline moves forward. In October 2017, Olivia Colman was cast as Queen Elizabeth II for the third and fourth seasons. By January 2018, Helena Bonham Carter and Paul Bettany were in negotiations to portray Princess Margaret and Prince Philip, respectively, for these seasons. However, by the end of the month, Bettany was forced to drop out due to the time commitment required. By the end of March 2018, Tobias Menzies was cast as Prince Philip for the third and fourth seasons. In early May 2018, Bonham Carter was confirmed to have been cast alongside Jason Watkins as Prime Minister Harold Wilson. The next month, Ben Daniels was cast as Tony Armstrong-Jones for the third season, along with Erin Doherty joining the series as Princess Anne. A month later, Josh O'Connor and Marion Bailey were cast as Prince Charles and the Queen Mother, respectively, for the third and fourth seasons. In October 2018, Emerald Fennell was cast as Camilla Shand. In December 2018, Charles Dance was cast as Louis Mountbatten. In April 2019, Emma Corrin was cast as Lady Diana Spencer for the fourth season. Gillian Anderson, who had been rumoured since January 2019 to be in talks to portray Margaret Thatcher in the fourth season, was officially confirmed for the role in September 2019.