Netflix Announces, ‘The Crown’ Will Get a Sixth Season

Just five months after revealing “The Crown” will end after the fifth season, Netflix has said its hit show about Britain’s Royal Family will extend to a sixth season that will take the series into the early 2000s.

Creator Peter Morgan has changed his mind and wants to do justice to the “richness and complexity” of the story. However sixth will be the final season.

Creator Morgan said: “As we started to discuss the storylines for Series 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. To be clear, Series 6 will not bring us any closer to present-day — it will simply enable us to cover the same period in greater detail.”

News from the palace: we can confirm there will be a sixth (and final) season of @TheCrownNetflix, in addition to the previously announced five!

— Netflix UK & Ireland (@NetflixUK) July 9, 2020

The change of heart comes just five months after Netflix announced that Season 5 will be the last. It means that the new Queen Elizabeth II, Imelda Staunton, will follow her predecessors in filming two series — as will Lesley Manville, who was last week confirmed as Princess Margaret.

Season 6 will take the story up to the early 2000s, meaning we won’t see the likes of Meghan Markle become part of future storylines after she married Prince Harry in 2018.

Sources always said that Morgan would write sixth season, and this idea was further cemented when he signed an overall deal with Netflix last year. Furthermore, six seasons has long been Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos’ ambition for the Left Bank Pictures show.

Cindy Holland, vice president of original content at Netflix said: “The Crown keeps raising the bar with each new season. We can’t wait for audiences to see the upcoming fourth season, and we’re proud to support Peter’s vision and the phenomenal cast and crew for a sixth and final season.”

The show wrapped shooting on season four — in which Olivia Colman plays Queen Elizabeth II — in mid-March, just ahead of the U.K. being placed in lockdown. It’s expected that season four will launch later this year, and will be Oscar winner Colman’s final turn as Queen.