Summary
- The Crown season 6 will bring closure to the show’s long run, focusing on the late 1990s and early 2000s, including Princess Diana’s death and Prince William’s marriage to Kate Middleton.
- The Crown season 6 will handle Princess Diana’s death with sensitivity, not showing the car crash but focusing on her final days and the aftermath.
- Imelda Staunton will return as Queen Elizabeth II, joined by Dominic West as Prince Charles and Elizabeth Debicki as Princess Diana. Jonathan Pryce, Lesley Manville, and new cast members will also join the final season.
The Crown‘s ambitious Emmy-winning take on Queen Elizabeth II’s reign is now heading toward its closing arc, and The Crown season 6 updates are starting to roll in. This final season of The Crown will reportedly bring closure to its long scintillating run. By ingeniously recasting many actors after every two seasons, The Crown has managed to hammer down a sense of realism that only gets bleaker in season 5. Picking up exactly where its predecessor left, the season unfolds in the ’90s, highlighting some of the most turbulent lows in Princess Diana’s life.
The Crown season 6, much like season 5 before it, will also focus relatively less on Imelda Staunton’s Queen Elizabeth but gradually heads closer to her demise. Although The Crown season 5 has received mixed reviews from critics, it is being appreciated for its tender yet no less melancholic depiction of the Queen. Compared to the early years of the show, season 5 may not meet the high expectations, but it effectively paves the way for what lies ahead in the next season of The Crown. On that note, here is everything known about the release date and storylines of The Crown season 6.
The Latest The Crown Season 6 News
In August 2023 some essential news around The Crown season 6 came to light, as it was partly revealed how the next season will handle the tragic passing of Princess Diana. Both Dominic West and Elizabeth Debicki return as Prince Charles and Princess Diana in The Crown season 6. It was also announced in September 2022 (via Variety) that The Crown season 6 has cast Prince William and Kate Middleton, with Ed McVey and Meg Bellamy in the roles. While it was always presumed given the timeline that The Crown season 6 would cover the death of Princess Diana, in October 2022 it was confirmed that it won’t show the moment that Princess Diana was killed in a tragic accident (via IndieWire).
This was elaborated on in the most recent The Crown season 6 news, which elaborated on how Diana’s death will be handled in the show. Suzanne Mackie, who has been a producer since The Crown started, explained how Diana’s death will play out in season 6 of The Crown. This is a sensitive subject and is one that Netflix needs to deal with in the most respectful manner possible, and it sounds like Mackie is very confident about how they will deal with this tragedy. Mackie did say that she doesn’t want to spoil the ending, but she is happy with how it finished up.
“It’s really beautiful and, I think, quite profound, and it feels like a culmination of a very long journey. Talking about our other queens, it feels like it honors that, and you’ll understand that when you see it. Some of it is very painfully sad.”
Mackie also explained how Diana’s death will play out. She said that Diana’s death would play out over three episodes, which includes the build-up to her death and her final days in Paris. She also said The Crown season 6 story will be “very sad, and it feels very real and vivid [and] I hope very respectful and beautiful.” After this, Mackie said the story will move on to the next chapter, which is about Prince William and Kate Middleton, “and it feels like little flowers coming up out of the earth after Diana’s death.”
The Crown Season 6 Is Confirmed
The Crown season 5 was previously planned to be the show’s final installment, so despite production being underway there are still many who mistakenly believe The Crown is finishing after its fifth season. However, when the creators of The Crown started discussing the complexity of the storylines they wished to cover towards the end of the series, they realized that two more seasons would be required to do justice to the richness of the story they wanted to tell. As a result, the original plan was canceled, and Netflix’s The Crown season 6 was confirmed as the final addition to the show’s phenomenal run.
The Crown Season 6 Release Date
In The Crown season 6 updates, neither Netflix nor the showrunners have made official announcements regarding The Crown season 6’s release date. The Crown season 6’s filming began in August 2022, which makes it sound like the show could likely return with its next season by the end of 2023. Filming was temporarily suspended after Queen Elizabeth II’s death, but that was only for two days. Considering the release schedule of the show’s previous seasons, Netflix’s The Crown season 6 could release sometime in Fall 2023. According to reports (via En-Vols),
The Crown Season 6 Cast
The main cast of The Crown changed every two seasons, showing how Queen Elizabeth II aged along with those who shared her story. As such, there are going to be many new cast members in The Crown season 6 — even for established characters. The main question has been whether Imelda Staunton would continue her tenure. Both Claire Foy and Olivia Coleman played Queen Elizabeth II at earlier moments in her life in the first four seasons. The Crown season 6 updates reveal Imelda Staunton is returning for her second season as the Queen, with the show moving into the 1990s.
However, Coleman and Foy will return to the cast for key scenes in The Crown season 6. Also returning is Jonathan Pryce as Prince Philip, Dominic West as Prince Charles, Elizabeth Debicki as Princess Diana, and Lesley Manville as Princess Margaret. Joining the cast is Meg Bellamy, who will play Kate Middleton in her college years. Two different actors will play Prince William in The Crown season 6. Rufus Kampa takes on the role of Prince William at 15 while Ed McVey plays him in his late teen and early adult years. Viola Prettejohn will join The Crown season 6 cast as a younger Queen Elizabeth II too.
In other The Crown season 6 updates, after it was reported that the writers had to do page-one rewrites on episodes because Gillian Anderson refused to reprise her role as Magaret Thatcher, the former Prime Minister of Great Britain, in The Crown season 6 cast. Anderson bluntly responded to the rumors, simply noting “Absolute b******s.” Whil amusing, it doesn’t explain whether Anderson will reprise her role and join The Crown season 6 cast as Thatcher, but given that she was a major asset to the series, she’d be missed by fans if she was absent.
The Crown Season 6 Story Details
The Crown season 6 divides its runtime between the late 1990s and early 2000s. This suggests the Netflix drama series will cover the emotional fallout of Princess Diana’s car accident in Paris on August 31, 1997. The Crown star Elizabeth Debicki confirmed Princess Diana’s death will be portrayed with sensitivity and the car crash will not be depicted on the screen. Instead, The Crown season 6 will focus on Princess Diana’s final days and the aftermath of her death. Showrunner Peter Morgan (via Deadline) revealed The Crown season 6 will not stretch its storyline to the present day and will only meticulously cover the mid-aughts, including Prince William meeting and marrying Kate Middleton.