The Netflix Original Series The Crown was released on November 4, 2016. The series has released four seasons so far and is currently filming season five which is set to be released in November of 2022. 

The first season of The Crown follows a young newlywed Princess Elizabeth (Claire Foy) who has taken the responsibility of the tour of the commonwealth alongside her husband Prince Philip (Matt Smith) due  to her fathers’ King George VI’s (Jared Harris) illness and poor health. As Elizabeth continues on her tour, her fathers health declines. She is informed of her fathers passing and is now given the responsibility of becoming Queen. The season shows the hardships in Elizabeth and Philip’s marriage and how at Elizabeth’s coronation he struggles to kneel to his wife. The Queen’s sister, Princess Margaret has been having a secret love affair with Peter Townsend and eventually Margaret asks for her sister’s approval of the couple. Elizabeth gives her blessing but only if Margaret gives up all of her titles and royal privileges. This creates a lot of tension between the sisters, eventually leading to Margaret ending her relationship with Peter. As the season progresses viewers learn about Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s poor health and how he tries to conceal it from the Queen for as long as he can. The season concludes with Elizabeth giving Philip more responsibility such as asking him to open the Melbourne 1956 Olympic  Games and also traveling for five months on the tour of the commonwealth.  Viewers are left wondering what will happen with Philip’s character and the couple’s marriage. 

The second season continues showing the Royal couple’s marriage issues and Philip’s alleged affair(s). Elizabeth confronts him and the couple have seemed to have made peace in their marriage. In  this season we also see Princess Margaret’s and Anthony Armstrong- Jones’ marriage, even upon learning of Anthony’s affairs Elizabeth still gives them her blessing.  We also see the Queen’s relationship with her uncle Edward who abdicated the throne leaving his brother King George VI to take his place and eventually Elizabeth. Queen Elizabeth II learns of documents that suggest her uncle was a Nazi sympathizer and she makes the decision to exile Edward from England and release the documents. In this season viewers also learn more about Prince Philip, his childhood and the troubles he faced. 

When the third season premiered on November 17, 2019, viewers were introduced to a new set of actors and actresses taking the roles of a more aged Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, Princess Maraget, etc. We were also introduced to a grown Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Camilla Bowell, etc. This season as well as season four take the focus off of Elizabeth and more so on Charles and his love life. We see the relationship between Charles and Camilla and the passing of Winston Churchill. This season also gives viewers more of Princess Margaret’s love life. Season Three seems to set  everything up for Season Four, in which we are introduced to Diana Spencer. 

In Season Four, we are introduced to Diana Spencer, a young woman who catches the eye of Prince Charles. The season really focuses on the relationship between these two and their marriage. Later in the season viewers are also introduced to William and Harry. Season Four shows the struggles Diana faced and how the love between the married couple has seemed to fade over the years (assuming there was even any there to begin with) we also learn how Charles is still very much in love with Camilla. Viewers can see the unhappiness between the couple and the struggles the whole Royal Family is faced with.

The Crown is one of my favorite series. I love the historical elements and although the show has exaggerated certain situations, the show as a whole, is based on real events which have happened since Queen Elizabeth II started her reign. I’m super excited to see what will happen next in Season 5 and what will happen within the marriage of Charles and Diana. I’m also excited to see the new cast which will depict more “aged” characters.