Following the success of its fifth installment, The Crown Season 6 is coming to Netflix. Initially, the show was supposed to end after five installments, but things shifted there for a while since creator Peter Morgan changed his mind in July 2020. In other words, Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles will be back on the small screens, joined by Kate Middleton for the very first time.
The series chronicles the reign of Queen Elizabeth II from 1940 to the early 2000s and is one of the most popular programs on Netflix. Season 1 began with the late monarch's accession to the throne at age 25 and her marriage to Prince Phillip. Since then, it has recounted the enticing tale of the royal family while unraveling the monarch's mysteries, and more questions are expected to be answered in the forthcoming The Crown Season 6.
Peter Morgan revealed it instantly became apparent that the show needed to return for the last time in order to do justice to the richness and complexity of the narrative. The final installment will reportedly take the series from the late ‘90s to the early 2000s, encompassing the tragic demise of Princess Diana in 1997. As fans await for more details, here is everything we know about the upcoming The Crown Season 6.
The Crown Season 6 Potential Release Date: When is it coming to Netflix?
Netflix has confirmed that The Crown Season 6 will premiere sometime in autumn 2023. The exact date has not yet been announced, but based on past releases, fans can anticipate that the new episodes will arrive in November 2023.
It was initially believed that The Crown Season 6 would be released later, given that Queen Elizabeth II’s death in September 2022 had halted production. Peter Morgan explained the decision in more detail to Deadline:
"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."
Back in 2016, when the series premiered, director Stephen Daldry hinted that contingency preparations for Queen Elizabeth II's death were already in place. He shared:
"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."
The Crown Season 6 Cast: Who are the actors starring in the upcoming season?
In the forthcoming The Crown Season 6, Elizabeth Debicki will reprise her role as Diana, Princess of Wales, having replaced Emma Corrin in Season 5. Also, Dominic West, who replaced Josh O'Connor as Prince Charles in the most recent installment, will do so.
Another Deadline report indicated that the roles of Prince William and Kate Middleton for The Crown Season 6 were cast on September 2, 2022, following an exhaustive casting procedure. Two actors will portray Prince William as he transitions from adolescent to university student. Rufus Kampa will portray the Prince of Wales at age 15 as he struggles to cope with the death of his mother, Diana, and Ed McVey will portray his years as a young adult, when he courted the future Duchess of Cambridge after meeting her at St. Andrews in 2001.
On the other hand, Meg Bellamy, a newcomer, will portray Kate Middleton in The Crown Season 6. All three actors will make their screen debut in this series. The first images of McVey and Bellamy in action from the set surfaced on March 17, followed by the first official stills on April 27.
Other stars who are confirmed to return in The Crown Season 6 include Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth II, Leslie Manville as Princess Margaret, Jonathan Pryce as Prince Philip, Jonny Lee Miller as John Major, Olivia Williams as Camilla Parker-Bowles, Marcia Warren as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, Claudia Harrison as Princess Anne, James Murray as Prince Andrew, Khalid Abdalla as Dodi Fayed and Salim Daw as Mohamed Al-Fayed. Berti Carvel and Timothy Dalton are also returning as Tony Blair and Peter Townsend, respectively.
The Crown Season 6 Plot: What is the upcoming season about?
Following an early table read, series actor Dominic West revealed to Deadline in August 2022 that The Crown Season 6 "will be as turbulent as it gets." He also told Entertainment Weekly:
"It's a hell of a season, because it deals with Diana's death and the appalling scenes like having to break that sort of news to your sons. You know, I've got two boys of that age, and so it's a heavy, heavy, heavy season, and a heavy responsibility to get it right, and something I think we all take pretty seriously."
An unnamed insider said to Deadline that there was “anxiety behind the scenes” prior to filming, despite the fact that Princess Diana’s death will not be shown on The Crown Season 6. The same source told the entertainment news outlet:
"We've been dreading getting to this point. 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."
This is likely why the writers for The Crown Season 6 have chosen to focus on the events leading up to Princess Diana's death and the immediate aftermath. For many, depicting the collision in its entirety would be a step too far.
Additionally, The Crown Season 6 will depict Prince William and Kate Middleton's pivotal first encounter in 2001 at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, where they were both students. An official synopsis for the upcoming installment reads:
"As The Crown enters a new decade, Prince William starts at University in St Andrew’s, determined to lead as normal a life as possible while he still can. Also beginning life as a University student is Kate Middleton from Berkshire. As the pair meet for the first time on campus, a new romance and a new future for The Crown begins."
The Crown Season 6 Trailer: Is there a teaser for the next season?
Unfortunately, no official The Crown Season 6 trailer has been released as of this writing, but this page will be updated as soon as it becomes available. Rest assured, when the teaser arrives, EpicFlix will surely share it here. In the meantime, you can rewatch the official Season 5 trailer below:
Stay tuned to EpicFlix for the latest news and updates about The Crown Season 6!
