How Many Seasons of 'The Crown' Will There Be?

The Netflix show The Crown has documented the story of the British Royal Family up through the 1990s, but when will the story end? Previously, The Hollywood Reporter announced that the show would conclude with Season 5, but initially, creator Peter Morgan envisioned six seasons to round out the series.

How many seasons of The Crown will there be?

Initially, The Hollywood Reporter spoke to Peter Morgan in 2020, who said, "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."

However, several months later in July, Peter reversed his Season 5 finale statement and said, "As we started to discuss the storylines for [Season 5], 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."

However, the series extension doesn't mean the show intends to conclude in the present day. Peter said he would not cover Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding, as his initial intentions were to cover 60 years of British royal history, which would place the end of the series in 2012, at Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee.

In September 2022, Deadline announced that rising actress Meg Bellamy would play Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cornwall and Cambridge, though it’s unclear if we’ll see a reenactment of Kate and William’s 2011 wedding. Rufus Kampa will play teen Prince William, with actor Ed McVey taking over for his later teen years and beyond.

Part 1 of Season 6 of The Crown — the first four episodes — hits Netflix on Nov. 16, 2023.

Part 2, which includes the last six episodes, will drop on the streaming platform on Dec. 14, 2023.

Upon news of Queen Elizabeth’s passing in September 2022, Netflix chose to suspend production on the series to pay homage to the queen’s 70-year reign.

“As a mark of respect, filming on The Crown was suspended today,” a Netflix source shared with Variety on Friday, Sept. 9, 2022. “Filming will also be suspended on the day of Her Majesty The Queen’s funeral.” The short delay likely didn't cause too much of a disturbance to the Season 6 production schedule.

Per Tudum, Season 6 will continue depicting Princess Diana's story, including her tragic death. Part 2 will address Charles and Camilla's relationship and explore the first stages of William and Kate's union as well, but as Peter Morgan previously stated, will not cover Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's relationship or anything that has happened more recently than 20 years ago.

It's safe to say this show has had quite an impact on viewers worldwide and will be missed once it's over. The Crown is now available for streaming on Netflix.