The Crown is a historical drama based around the real-life events within and surrounding the British Royal family – particularly during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II.

Starting in 1947, when Elizabeth was still a princess and newly married to husband Philip Mountbatten, the series follows the next 60 years of her life, including the ups and downs of running the country, the political heavyweights they encounter, as well as the turbulent personal lives of those within the palace.

It ends in 2005 with the marriage of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles (the now King and Queen of England).

The Crown ran for six seasons, ending in December 2023.

The Crown spans 60 years of Queen Elizabeth II’s life and reign, starting in 1947 and spanning through to 2005.

Each season focused on a specific timespan, often leading on key moments in British history and the history of the monarchy, with small time jumps between each season.

• Season 1: 1947–1955

• Season 2: 1956–1964

• Season 3: 1964–1977

• Season 4: 1979–1990

• Season 5: 1991–1997

• Season 6: 1997–2005

It was decided not to include the Queen’s later years.

The real Queen Elizabeth died in September 2022, while the sixth and final season was in production, at the age of 96.

At the time of her death, she had made history as the longest reigning monarch in British history, having been on the throne for more than 70 years.

She was succeeded by King Charles III.

In order to portray passage of time across the decades The Crown covers, the series has a full cast change every two seasons. There were three full changeovers across the show’s run.

The cast for each time period is below:

• Claire Foy (Wolf Hall, All Of Us Strangers) as Queen Elizabeth II

• Matt Smith (Doctor Who, The Death of Bunny Munro) as Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

• Vanessa Kirby (Fantastic Four: First Steps, as Princess Margaret

• Eileen Atkins (Gosford Park, Cold Mountain) as Queen Mary

• Jeremy Northam (Gosford Park, Emma) as Anthony Eden

• Victoria Hamilton (Mansfield Park, Doctor Foster) as the Queen Mother

• Ben Miles (Andor, Hijack) as Peter Townsend

• Greg Wise (Sense and Sensibility, The Buccaneers) as Lord Mountbatten

• Jared Harris (Chernobyl, The Terror) as King George VI

• John Lithgow (Dexter, Third Rock From the Sun) as Sir Winston Churchill

• Alex Jennings (MobLand, A Very Royal Scandal) as Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor

• Lia Williams (The Day of the Jackal, Mr Bates Vs The Post Office) as Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor

• Anton Lesser (Game of Thrones, Andor) as Prime Minister Harold Macmillan

• Matthew Goode (Dept Q, The Offer) as Antony Armstrong-Jones

• Olivia Colman (The Favourite, The Roses) as Queen Elizabeth II

• Tobias Menzies (Manhunt, Game of Thrones) as Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

• Helena Bonham Carter (Ocean’s 8, Sweeney Todd) as Princess Margaret

• Ben Daniels (The Exorcist, Foundation) as Antony Armstrong-Jones, Earl of Snowdon

• Jason Watkins (McDonald and Dodds, W1A) as Prime Minister Harold Wilson

• Marion Bailey (Vera Drake, Murder Before Evensong) as Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother

• Erin Doherty (A Thousand Blows, Adolescence) as Princess Anne

• Charles Dance (Game of Thrones, Day Of The Jackal) as Lord Mountbatten

• Josh O'Connor (Challengers, La Chimera) as Charles, Prince of Wales

• Emma Corrin (A Murder At the End of The World, Deadpool & Wolverine) as Lady Diana Spencer

• Gillian Anderson (The X-Files, Sex Education) as Margaret Thatcher

• Stephen Boxer (La Fortuna, Under The Hammer) as Denis Thatcher

• Emerald Fennell (Call The Midwife, Barbie) as Camilla Parker Bowles

• Imelda Staunton (Pride, Harry Potter) as Queen Elizabeth II

• Jonathan Pryce (Under Salt Marsh, Slow Horses) as Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

• Lesley Manville (Mrs Harries Goes to Paris, Phantom Thread) as Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon

• Dominic West (The Wire, The Affair) as Charles, Prince of Wales

• Jonny Lee Miller (Elementary, Trainspotting) as Prime Minister John Major

• Olivia Williams (The Sixth Sense, Dune: Prophecy) as Camilla Parker Bowles

• Claudia Harrison (Prisoner 951, Humans) as Anne, Princess Royal

• Natascha McElhone (Designated Survivor, Halo) as Penny Knatchbull, Lady Romsey

• Marcia Warren (Vicious, Agatha Raisin) as Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother

• Elizabeth Debicki (The Great Gatsby, Tenet) as Diana, Princess of Wales

• Bertie Carvel (Doctor Foster, Knight of The Seven Kingdoms) as Prime Minister Tony Blair

• Salim Daw (Nafas, Let It Be Morning) as Mohamed Al-Fayed

• Khalid Abdalla (The Kite Runner, Day Of The Jackal) as Dodi Fayed

• Luther Ford (Black Doves, King and Conqueror) as Prince Harry of Wales

• Newcomer Ed McVey as Prince William of Wales

• Newcomer Meg Bellamy as Catherine Middleton

The Crown proved to be an international success across its run, being nominated for a total of 431 awards, winning 158.

Wins across this run included:

• 24x Primetime Emmys

• 8x Golden Globes

• 7x Actors Awards (formerly the SAG Awards)

• 5x Critics Choice Awards

• 3x Baftas

The series maintains an 81% fresh score on critics aggregate site, RottenTomatoes.

The official rating of The Crown in the UK, as certified by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), is 15 for the overall series, with season three being considered a 12, and some episodes considered PG.

This means the show has been largely deemed not suitable for children, however some episodes are OK.

Reasons for this rating is due to the show containing:

• One scene of explicit male full-frontal nudity

• Themes of infidelity and affairs with implied sexual scenes

• Implied deaths

• Some scenes of violence in regards to war and rebellion

• Some explicit scenes of murder

• Some use of explicit language

• Some scenes of illegal drug use (including cocaine)

• Depictions of death, including some depictions of dead bodies

• Some scenes that some may find distressing or upsetting

The Crown is a Netflix series – available via Sky along with HBO Max, Disney+ and (from July 2026) Hayu all under a single subscription.

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