The Crown is coming back for one more season — and filming got underway before season 5 even premiered.
Shortly after filming on the Netflix drama’s sixth season got underway in summer 2022, the real Queen Elizabeth II died at age 96. Immediately after her September 2022 passing, her eldest son, King Charles III, assumed the throne.
Following Elizabeth’s death, show creator Peter Morgan called the series “a love letter” to the late monarch. “I’ve nothing to add for now, just silence and respect,” he added, noting that production on season 6 would temporarily pause “out of respect” for Elizabeth.
When filming resumed, season 5 still hadn’t debuted, but the new episodes were already making headlines. In an open letter, Judi Dench slammed the show as “completely inaccurate” and called for Netflix to add a disclaimer to the series.
Though Netflix responded by adding a disclaimer to the show’s official website and season 5 trailer, Princess Diana‘s biographer Andrew Morton exclusively told Us Weekly that he thought it was “ridiculous” to do so. “I mean, it is a drama,” the author explained in November 2022. “It’s not a documentary. That’s been said about 10 million times. Not everything in it is going to be authentic.”
Keep scrolling for everything to know about season 6 of The Crown: