The Crown (2016)
The Crown is a 2016 drama series created by Peter Morgan. It stars Claire Foy, Olivia Colman and Vanessa Kirby.
Behind the ceremony of the British monarchy sits a young woman learning to wear a crown she never expected so soon. This Netflix drama follows Queen Elizabeth II across the decades of her reign, tracing the quiet power struggles between Buckingham Palace and 10 Downing Street as one prime minister after another shapes post-war Britain. Duty collides with private feeling in nearly every episode: what the sovereign owes the country, what she must give up of herself. Created by Peter Morgan, who built it from his film The Queen and his play The Audience, it turns recent history into intimate court drama.
Quick answers
What is The Crown about?
Behind the ceremony of the British monarchy sits a young woman learning to wear a crown she never expected so soon. This Netflix drama follows Queen Elizabeth II across the decades of her reign, tracing the quiet power struggles between Buckingham Palace and 10 Downing Street as one prime minister after another shapes post-war Britain. Duty collides with private feeling in nearly every episode: what the sovereign owes the country, what she must give up of herself. Created by Peter Morgan, who built it from his film The Queen and his play The Audience, it turns recent history into intimate court drama.
When was The Crown released?
The Crown was released on 4 November 2016.
How many episodes does The Crown have?
The Crown has 60 episodes across 6 seasons.
Who made The Crown?
The Crown was created by Peter Morgan.
Where can I watch The Crown?
The Crown is available on Netflix.
Where to watch The Crown
Stream: Netflix
Cast
- Claire Foy as Queen Elizabeth II
- Olivia Colman as Queen Elizabeth II
- Vanessa Kirby as Princess Margaret
- Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth II
- Jonathan Pryce as Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
- Lesley Manville as Princess Margaret
- Dominic West as Prince Charles
- Matt Smith as Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
- Claudia Harrison as Princess Anne
- Tobias Menzies as Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
- Marcia Warren as Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother
- Helena Bonham Carter as Princess Margaret
Similar series
Explore The Crown guides
A few thoughts on The Crown
The Rose of Versailles tells a sweeping story of court, crown, and duty inside another famous monarchy, and it will feel familiar to anyone drawn to the weight of royal obligation. For the private machinery of power and the cost of holding a dynasty together, The Godfather trades palaces for a crime family but studies the same question of what leadership does to the people who inherit it.
The English throne dramatized across the centuries
The Crown watches Elizabeth II learn to wear a role she never chose so soon. These dramas reach further back through the English monarchy, from Tudor queens to the young princesses who fought their way toward the throne, each one weighing private feeling against the cold arithmetic of succession and duty.
Royal courts of Europe ruled by intrigue and bloodline
Where The Crown keeps its scheming behind palace doors in London, these move the plotting to other courts. Sun-king France, the doomed royals of Versailles, warring English kings and rival queens all trade the same currency: bloodline, marriage and the constant threat of a knife between allies.
Opulent period romance and society scandal
The Crown dresses recent history in ballgowns and protocol. If the costumes and the yearning are the draw, these lean harder into romance and social scandal, following lovers and climbers through drawing rooms where a single glance or misstep can undo a reputation for good.
Sweeping historical sagas of dynasty and ambition
Peter Morgan turns decades of postwar Britain into intimate drama. These sagas share that long-view ambition, tracing dynasties, warlords and self-made families across years of upheaval, where power is won slowly and lost all at once, and the personal cost keeps mounting behind every public triumph.