The Crown (TV series)

The Crown portrays the life of Queen Elizabeth II from her wedding in 1947 to Philip, Duke of Edinburgh,[3] until the early 21st century:[4][5] The following actors are credited in the opening titles of up to two episodes in a season: In November 2014, it was announced that Netflix was to adapt the 2013 stage play The Audience into a television series.

[22] By January 2018, Helena Bonham Carter and Paul Bettany were in negotiations to portray Princess Margaret and Prince Philip, respectively, for these seasons.

[34] In early May 2018, Bonham Carter was confirmed to have been cast alongside Jason Watkins as Prime Minister Harold Wilson.

[35] The next month, Ben Daniels was cast as Tony Armstrong-Jones for the third season,[36] along with Erin Doherty joining the series as Princess Anne.

[37] 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.

[41] 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.

[51] During the same month, Olivia Williams confirmed during an interview that she had joined the cast as Camilla Parker Bowles for the series's fifth and sixth seasons.

[54] In September 2021, Khalid Abdalla and Salim Daw were announced to play Dodi Fayed and Mohamed Al-Fayed, respectively.

[60] The Left Bank producers stated that Smith was paid more than Foy for the first two seasons, partly because of his Doctor Who fame.

[61] This led to a gender pay gap controversy, including the creation of a petition asking Smith to donate the difference between his and Foy's salary to the Time's Up Legal Defense Fund.

[63] Suzanne Mackie, Left Bank's creative director, did note that in the future, no actor would be paid more than the actress portraying the Queen.

[64] Smith noted that he supported Foy and was "pleased that it was resolved and [the producers] made amends for it because that's what needed to happen".

The Hollywood Reporter noted it was unclear what Smith was referring to as resolved since Netflix and Left Bank had not commented further.

[21] Additional locations in the UK included Belvoir Castle,[68] Waddesdon Manor, Eltham Palace, the Royal Naval College,[69] Goldsmiths' Hall, Shoreham Airport, New Slains Castle,[70] Balmoral Castle, Cruden Bay, Lyceum Theatre, Loseley Park, Hatfield House,[67] The Historic Dockyard Chatham,[71] Southwark Cathedral, Ardverikie House, Englefield House, Wellington College, the Great Central Railway and the Glenfeshie Estate.

[78] On 16 February 2022, items previously used in the series's production worth £150,000 were stolen from three vehicles, most of which were described as having "limited value for resale" but "are valuable as pieces to the UK film industry".

[79][80] Locations featured in series five included Cobham Hall, which doubled as Eton College, and the Historic Dockyard at Chatham, both in Kent.

[81] Filming for the sixth season began in August 2022,[58] but Morgan noted he expected it to stop for a period of time in September following the death of Elizabeth II "out of respect".

"[85] An example of such a departure is the season one plot in which the Queen and the government oppose Princess Margaret's desire to marry Peter Townsend, which would have required the monarch's permission under the Royal Marriages Act 1772; in reality, a plan was made to amend the Act to allow the marriage while removing Margaret and her children from the line of succession.

[87][88][89] It was described as "fake history" by Simon Jenkins in The Guardian,[90] and the royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith stated that "because The Crown is such a lavish and expensive production, so beautifully acted and cleverly written, and so much attention has been paid to visual details about historical events, viewers are tricked into believing that what they are seeing actually happened".

[92][93] In October 2022, Netflix added a disclaimer to the series's title synopsis page on its website and to the YouTube description of the trailer for season five, which describes it as a "fictional dramatisation" that was "inspired by real events".

[99] Conversely, during a 2021 appearance on The Late Late Show with James Corden, Prince Harry stated that he was comfortable with The Crown's portrayal of the royal family, noting that, while as a work of fiction, it is "not strictly accurate", it does give a "rough idea" of the pressures of "putting duty and service above family and everything else".

Its critical consensus reads, "Powerful performances and lavish cinematography make The Crown a top-notch production worthy of its grand subject.

The response to the fifth season, while still positive, was less favourable; it holds a 71% rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 103 reviews, with an average rating of 6.75/10, and the critical consensus reads, "In its fifth season, it's hard to shake the feeling that this series has lost some of its lusters – but addictive drama and a sterling cast remain The Crown's jewels.

[138] It also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series - Drama twice, at the 74th and 78th ceremonies, with additional acting wins for Foy, Colman, Corrin, O'Connor, Anderson, and Debicki.

[143] It is believed that the series will span a period of nearly 50 years, starting with the death of Queen Victoria in 1901 and ending around the wedding of Princess Elizabeth in 1947.

Replica coronation gown of Elizabeth II and wedding suit of Prince Philip used in the series
John Lithgow won multiple awards for his performance as Winston Churchill .