WARNING! This article contains spoilers for The Crown season 6, part 1!
Summary
Since The Crown burst onto Netflix screens, worldwide understanding of the British Royal Family has grown, though only a few crucial events remain before the series draws to a close. Following the stories of their personal lives alongside ruling the country, The Crown has focused on various events throughout the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, both within the monarchy and the historical happenings of the wider world. The Crown will be wrapping up with season 6, with its first four episodes having aired in November 2023, and the last six due to be released in December, which will see the hit Netflix drama come to an end. Before it can, however, there are more stories to be told.
So far, the show has followed a strict timeline, and The Crown season 6 will cover several years of the lives of the British Royal Family. Although the show’s events won’t carry on until the present day, there are still plenty of dramatic occurences that need to be addressed. While The Crown season 7 seems unlikely despite the prospect of a prequel season, the show’s official timeline coverage of the Royals will only extend as far as 2004–2005. The Crown season 6, part 1 ended with the death of Princess Diana Spencer in 1997, which means that there are only six episodes to fit in almost eight years of further Royal Family events.
6 The Queen & Prince Philip’s Golden Wedding Anniversary
November 20, 1997
Following Diana’s death just a few months previously, the Queen and Prince Philip celebrated their golden wedding anniversary, which saw Her Majesty embark on a rather upfront speech about her position in the monarchy. It’s known that in the years leading up to this event, there had been public backlash toward the concept of a monarchy, which led to Prince Charles creating the Prince’s Trust in 1976. Although it may seem like an unusual moment in The Crown, this notable speech was also a response to the Royal Family’s seemingly mute acknowledgment to the death of Spencer and would make sense to include before its time jump.
5 Kate & William Meet
2001
It’s known that The Crown season 6, part 2 will see a time jump, and the final six episodes will at some point involve Prince William as he attends St Andrews University. This is the location where Prince William notably meets his future wife, Kate Middleton, for the first time. Filming pictures have seen Meg Bellamy cast as Kate Middleton, in scenes replicating paparazzi photographs of the pair in 2001.
It’s well known that Prince William went on to marry Kate, and the two have three children together, extending the bloodline of the British Royal Family. William and Kate’s relationship has attracted a lot of media attention over the years, including reports of their brief split in 2007. Although The Crown won’t run long enough to see the two wed on-screen, there’s plenty of story to explore in their earlier days together.
4 Golden Jubilee Of Queen Elizabeth II
February 6, 2002
As several huge events that impacted the Queen happened in rather quick succession in the early 2000s, it can be presumed that these will be recounted in The Crown season 6. Her Majesty’s Golden Jubilee in 2002 came five years after Diana’s death, and in the time between these two events, the British Royal Family was rather quiet compared to the previous few decades. Celebrations for the event were scattered throughout the year 2002 and saw the Queen tour several countries worldwide, including Australia, Canada, and Jamaica.
The official date of the anniversary, marking fifty years since Queen Elizabeth II’s ascension to the throne, came just three days before the death of her sister, Princess Margaret. Despite the loss of Margaret, and the Queen Mother the following month, the Queen continued to push through with the celebrations. As these events spanned across most of the year, it could be presumed that this could be the main plot motivator for The Crown season 6, part 2’s remaining episodes.
3 Princess Margaret’s Death
February 9, 2002
Just three days before the Queen’s Golden Jubilee, Princess Margaret, her rebellious and glamorous socialite sister, passed away in February 2002 following several months of repeated strokes. As depicted in The Crown, for most of her life, Princess Margaret was a heavy smoker and drinker, which eventually contributed to the ongoing health issues she suffered from in later life (via TODAY). The first half of The Crown season 6 saw Margaret portrayed by Lesley Manville, following performances by Helena Bonham-Carter and Vanessa Kirby in earlier seasons. With Margaret’s incoming death, the final episodes of The Crown will certainly focus on this and dedicate more screen time to Manville.
2 The Queen Mother’s Death
March 30, 2002
The Queen Mother, the widow of King George VI and the mother of Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret, passed away in March 2002 amid the worldwide celebrations of the Golden Jubilee. She passed away at the age of 101, making her the second longest-living member of the British Royal Family (after 102-year-old Princess Alice, the wife of George VI’s brother, Prince Henry), and the first ever to surpass 100 years old. Despite struggling with a terrible cold since the previous Christmas, combined with her advanced age, she still remained committed to her duties, something that is often shown in the character in The Crown.
Following the death of Princess Margaret, the Queen Mother insisted on attending the funeral of her youngest daughter. This was one of her final public appearances, before dying in her sleep a few weeks later. With the expectation that The Crown season 6 will look at these events, it is assumed that Margaret and the Queen Mother’s deaths will occur in quick succession for a tragic episode, as the show comes to a close and two of its major characters meet their end.
1 Wedding Of Prince Charles & Camilla Parker Bowles
April 9, 2005
In 2005, Prince (at the time) Charles married Camilla Parker Bowles, following several decades of a media-focused relationship. The Crown seasons 4 and 5 spent a lot of time on the breakdown of Charles and Diana’s marriage, and the introduction of Camilla. The backlash they received as the lines between their relationship and Charles’ marriage to Diana blurred was a huge event for the British Royal Family, attracting a lot of unwanted attention.
The first four episodes of The Crown season 6 primarily focused on Diana’s death in 1997. With it being known that the show will follow a timeline up until somewhere between 2004 and 2005, it’s a possibility that one of the Netflix show’s final events will concentrate on Charles and Camilla’s wedding. The pair’s engagement only lasted for two short months before their nuptials, which could allow for plenty of on-screen drama, given the concept of a second marriage was often a sore topic within the Royal Family.
Source: TODAY
Release Date: 2016-11-04
Cast: Claire Foy, Olivia Colman, Imelda Staunton, Matt Smith, Tobias Menzies, Jonathan Pryce, Vanessa Kirby, Helena Bonham Carter, Lesley Manville, Victoria Hamilton, Marion Bailey, Marcia Warren
Main Genre: Biography
Genres: Biography, Drama, History
Rating: TV-MA
Seasons: 5
This drama follows the political rivalries and romance of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign and the events that shaped the second half of the 20th century.
As the 1970s are drawing to a close, Queen Elizabeth (Olivia Colman) and her family find themselves preoccupied with safeguarding the line of succession by securing an appropriate bride for Prince Charles (Josh O’Connor), who is still unmarried at 30. As the nation begins to feel the impact of divisive policies introduced by Britain’s first female Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (Gillian Anderson), tensions arise between her and the Queen which only grow worse as Thatcher leads the country into the Falklands War, generating conflict within the Commonwealth. While Charles’ romance with a young Lady Diana Spencer (Emma Corrin) provides a much-needed fairytale to unite the British people, behind closed doors, the Royal family is becoming increasingly divided.
Website:
Cinematographer: Stuart Howell, Adriano Goldman
Creator: Peter Morgan
Distributor: Netflix
Main Characters: Peter Townsend, Prince Philip, Anthony Eden, Queen Elizabeth, Princess Diana, Queen Mary, Prince Charles, Princess Margaret
Producer: Andy Stebbing, Martin Harrison, Michael Casey, Andrew Eaton, Oona O’Beirn, Faye Ward
Production Company: Sony Pictures Television, Left Bank Pictures
Sfx Supervisor: John Smith, Chris Stoaling
Writers: Peter Morgan
Number of Episodes: 50
