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The Crown's Producer Just Confirmed That Another Series Could Be In The Works

the crown season six everything you need to know
Another Series Of The Crown Could Be In The Works2023 © Netflix

It's been billed as the final outing for The Crown, but ahead of the last four episodes of the sixth season airing later this month, there is hope for yet for more series in the future.

Speaking on the Have You Seen? podcast, The Crown's producer Andy Harries, said many events were left out of the series as they 'took the high road,' but added: 'I think one day Peter [Morgan] or any other producers might reveal many of the stories which we decided not to feature.'

He added: 'Fergie doesn’t feature heavily in the series. We didn’t do the toe sucking story.'

the crown season six everything you need to know
2023 © Netflix - Netflix

The interview comes a matter of days before the final curtain call for The Crown, which Netflix has teased a series of first-look images for. Among them is a recreation of Kate Middleton's fateful catwalk debut during a charity fashion show in 2002 at University of St. Andrews, which is said to have been when she first caught Prince William's attention.

Dubbed 'Part 2', the final quartet of episodes will take viewers from the 1997 death of Diana, Princess of Wales, which is where 'Part 1' ended, and into the new millennium. It will cover the wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles and the genesis of Prince William and Kate Middleton's love story, which took place while they were both students at University of St. Andrews in Scotland.

the crown season six everything you need to know
Courtesy of Netflix © 2023 - Netflix

While the final season was said to be covering Prince Harry's love life too, it's since been confirmed that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's romance has not been written into the script for the upcoming season at all.

The Crown, which first debuted on the streaming platform in 2016, follows the trials and tribulations of the Royal Family, beginning with the death of King George VI and the succession of his daughter, Queen Elizabeth, to the throne.

Here's everything you need to know about The Crown season six:

What's the plot in season six of The Crown?

Season six explores the end of the 1990s and early 2000s, with 'Part 1' including a recreation of the fatal car crash Princess Diana was involved in in 1997 and the funeral that proceeded it.

In October 2022, a source told Deadline that there was a feeling of 'anxiety behind the scenes' ahead of filming such a tragic moment. 'We've been dreading getting to this point,' the source told the publication. 'The countdown is two weeks and while we're calmly carrying on, it's fair to acknowledge that there's a certain anxiety, a palpable sense of being slightly on the edge. I mean, there's bombshell sensitivity surrounding this one.'

the crown season six everything you need to know
2023 © Netflix - Netflix

Ahead of the release of the first part of the final season, on 10 October, the Daily Mail published a leaked scene featuring Princess Diana's ghost with a headline that read: 'Royal Family brace themselves for "painful" scenes as Princess Diana appears as a GHOST to both her ex-husband and the Queen in The Crown's final season.' In a subsequent article, the publication published an article lambasting Morgan for 'straying from the truth,' which he has since responded to in a cover story for Variety.

'I never imagined it as Diana’s "ghost" in the traditional sense,' Morgan said. 'It was her continuing to live vividly in the minds of those she has left behind.

'Diana was unique, and I suppose that’s what inspired me to find a unique way of representing her. She deserved special treatment narratively,' he added.

It was initially believed that the final instalment wouldn't feature Prince William and Kate Middleton's love story, and would instead focus on public affairs involving prime ministers John Major (1990-97) and Tony Blair (1997-2007), but those rumours were recently put to bed with confirmation that viewers will see a recreation of their early relationship.

the crown season six everything you need to know
2023 © Netflix - Netflix

It's not yet known whether Prince Harry's girlfriend during much of this period, Chelsy Davy, will feature in the series too.

Filming of King Charles and Camilla's wedding is understood to have been filmed over two days in April at York Minster, rather than St George's Chapel where he and Camilla married on April 9 that year.

A source told the Daily Mail: 'Charles and Camilla's wedding will be a true celebration and a really happy moment in the history of the monarchy. It also fits nicely into the King's Coronation year.'

Actors Dominic West and Olivia Williams, who will resume their roles to portray Charles and Camilla's wedding scene, are expected to be joined by actors playing other members of the royal family too.

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Other key events in the time period may include Prince Edward's marriage to Sophie Rhys-Jones in 1999 and the deaths of the Queen's sister Princess Margaret and the Queen's mother in 2002. Royals aside, the 9/11 terrorist attacks also took place during this period.

the crown season 6
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Photos previously emerged from the season six set which also seemed to suggest that there will be a Spice Girls storyline included in the show. According to E!, an unnamed actress dressed in Geri Halliwell's iconic Union Jack outfit was spotted filming scenes at Winchester Cathedral on the same day as West.

Random? Not entirely... In 1997, the Spice Girls met Charles at a concert in Manchester – where Halliwell and Mel B plan went against royal protocol by planting a series of kisses on his face, while wearing red lipstick. It was a truly scandalous moment that has gone down in history as the most famous example of celebrities breaching royal protocol.

the crown season 6
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Halliwell was also accused of pinching the royal's bottom, but has since denied this and said she only gave it 'a pat'. We can't wait to see this one play out on-screen!

Has filming started for season six of The Crown?

Filming is underway for The Crown season six, and we've already seen photos from the set of the show, showing Meg Bellamy (Kate Middleton) and Ed McVey (Prince William) at The University of St Andrews.

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When will The Crown season six be released?

The sixth and final season of The Crown will air in two parts debuting on November 16 and December 14, 2023. Part one of the season consists of four episodes that depict the budding romance between Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed (Khalid Abdalla) before the devastating car crash that took both of their lives.

the crown season six everything you need to know
2023 © Netflix - Netflix

Part two features six episodes that tell the story of a young Prince William adapting to life back at Eton following his mother's death, while the Queen reflect on the future of the monarchy as she reaches her Golden Jubilee.

Filming for season six was briefly put on hold for one day following the Queen's death in September 2022 before resuming.

The series' creator, Peter Morgan, explained his decision to pause filming during a chat with Deadline, noting: 'The Crown is a love letter to her and I've nothing to add for now, just silence and respect. I expect we will stop filming out of respect too.'

the crown season 6
JEFF J MITCHELL - Getty Images

When The Crown first began filming in 2016, director Stephen Daldry suggested that there were plans in place if and when the Queen passed, stating (via Deadline): 'None of us know when that time will come but it would be right and proper to show respect to the Queen. It would be a simple tribute and a mark of respect. She's a global figure and it's what we should do.'

Who will star in season six of The Crown?

Rufus Kampa will star as a 15-year-old Prince William and McVey will play the Duke during his late teens and early adult years. Meanwhile Bellamy will take on the role of Middleton.

In September 2022 Deadline reported that after a thorough casting process, The Crown had cast Prince William and Middleton for season six.

Kampa will depict Prince William as he battles with grief following the death of his mother Princess Diana, and Ed McVey will play out the period when he courted Middleton at The University of St Andrews, where they both attended, in 2001.

It will be all three actors' on-screen debut.

Bellamy won the role of Middleton after submitting a self tape following an online casting call made in April 2022. It announced the series was looking for a 'budding young actor' to play Middleton before she became the Duchess of Cambridge and highlighted The Crown was seeking someone with a 'strong physical resemblance' to Middleton.

But, as was the case for Prince William, no acting experience was needed.

According to The Guardian, Berkshire-based Bellamy received an A* in her Drama A-level at St Crispin's School in Wokingham.

A source previously told The Sun, the show was hoping to find an actor who can play Middleton so they can portray her and Prince William's burgeoning romance at university.

They said: 'Having the Duchess of Cambridge is an easy win for The Crown, as it will get more people watching.

'But since she's not a crucial part of the storyline, Kate's presence is a bonus. They'll only cast her if they can find the right candidate.'

This followed the news that the casting call for Prince William and Prince Harry was 'significant', hinting that there could be storylines around the young princes' lives in the Nineties and early Noughties era.

The role of Prince Harry, however, is yet to be announced. The series put out a call for a young actor to play him aged 16-20 years old, so we'll watch this space.

Also making her on-screen debut is Matilda Broadbridge, who will play Pippa Middleton in the upcoming season. Broadbridge was cast after submitting a self-made audition tape.

She wrote on Instagram: ‘A very short but very sweet trip to crown land. So excited to announce that I’ll be appearing as Pippa Middleton in The Crown Netflix.

‘So grateful to have been a tiny part of this production and for this experience, keep your eyes peeled.’

Show creator Peter Morgan previously confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s romance will not be featured in the final season.

He said: '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.

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'That is enough time and enough distance to really understand something, to understand its role, to understand its position, to understand its relevance.'

Imelda Staunton, the third actor to play Queen Elizabeth II, will reprise her role in the final season. The BAFTA-winning an Oscar-nominated English-Irish actor played Dolores Umbridge in the Harry Potter films.

Other returning actors include Lesley Manville (Princess Margaret), Jonathan Pryce (Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh), Elizabeth Debicki (Princess Diana), Dominic West (Prince Charles), Olivia Williams (Camilla Parker Bowles) and Bertie Carvel (Tony Blair).

Season five saw Dominic West's son, Senan West, 14, play Prince William.

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The last few seasons of The Crown have featured the likes of Claire Foy and Olivia Colman, who played the Queen, Vanessa Kirby and Helena Bonham Carter as Princess Margaret and Matt Smith and Tobias Menzies as Prince Philip.

Season four saw breakout star Emma Corrin play Princess Diana, with Elizabeth Debicki taking her place in season five.

What have people said about season six of The Crown?

The series' creator Peter Morgan at one point decided against a sixth season of the popular biographical drama, so we were pleased to learn that he had a change of heart.

'As we started to discuss the storylines for series 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 said in a statement, per Variety.

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He previously said in January 2020: 'At the outset I had imagined The Crown running for six seasons but now that we have begun work on the stories for season 5 it has become clear to me that this is the perfect time and place to stop. I’m grateful to Netflix and Sony for supporting me in this decision.'

Speaking ahead of the release of The Crown's final season, Debicki said, according to Deadline, that shooting the scenes in the lead-up to Princess Diana‘s death was 'competely unbearable', 'difficult' and 'heavy and very manic and incredibly invasive.'

Debicki said she placed her trust in Morgan’s 'emotional blueprint' for the people’s princess and wanted to juxtapose the horror of the crash with “real joy, happiness, lightness and genuine fun on the screen” in the early part of the series.

At the Los Angeles premiere of The Crown, Debicki told People that she 'learned a lot' while playing Princess Diana.

'I mean, I think I learned things about the degree to which she had an enormous and wicked sense of humor, the difficulties that she was facing, the way that she triumphed through them, the way she used her voice in a way that was sort of very progressive at the time,' Debicki said.

The series' director Christian Schwochow, meanwhile, stressed the extraordinary efforts that went into ensuring the scenes were handled with tact.

There has been talk of the timeline of The Crown season six being a little too close to the present day. In a recent interview with The Guardian, Helena Bonham Carter, who played Princess Margaret in seasons three and four of The Crown, weighed in on the upcoming series – saying she doesn't think it should continue.

'I should be careful here... but I don’t think they should carry on, actually,' said the actress. 'I’m in it and I loved my episodes, but it’s very different now. When The Crown started it was a historic drama, and now it’s crashed into the present. But that’s up to them.'

What have the royal family said about season six of The Crown?

Predictably, the royal family have kept pretty schtum about The Crown overall – and are yet to make any public comments about the upcoming sixth season. Prince Harry, however, recently admitted to watching the hit Netflix show while on a press tour for his just-released memoir Spare.

The Prince appeared in an episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on January 10, in which Colbert asked whether The Crown was a show that Harry has 'binged' lately and added that he 'had to have watched some' at the very least.

Prince Harry replied: 'Yes, I have watched some of The Crown' and went on to confirm that he has watched both 'the older stuff and the more recent stuff.'

When asked whether he 'fact-checks' The Crown while watching it, Prince Harry admitted that he does: 'Yes, I do actually,' he laughed. 'Which, by the way, is another reason why it’s so important that history has it right.'

The Crown season 6 part 1 launches on Netflix on November 16.

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