The sixth and final season of Netflix’ smash hit about the British royal family, The Crown, has now been confirmed. Images released by Netflix on social media have leaned heavily into the personas of the embattled female royals who so heavily dominated public perceptions of the family in the last thirty years, with Diana (Elizabeth Debicki) and Queen Elizabeth (Imelda Staunton) featuring prominently.
Season 5 ended with the United Kingdom in a state of pre-millennial flux, but hopeful. While the handover of Hong Kong to China struck many as signaling the final passing of the British Empire, the landslide election victory of the young, confident Tony Blair as Prime Minister (Bertie Carvel) in 1997 seemed to herald a new beginning. And for the royal family, Princess Diana remained a touchstone, her reputation among the British public never higher despite of her rancorous divorce of then Prince Charles (Dominic West).
A final season full of joy – and tragedy
Season 6 promises to puncture all of this, with the death of Diana in a Paris car accident, the wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles, and Elizabeth’s golden jubilee celebrations in 2002, all set against the vicissitudes of British politics.
As is becoming the norm on Netflix, the season is set to be released in two parts. The first part of the season will premiere on Nov. 16 2023. Part two will begin later, on Dec. 14 2023, in time for the series’ climax to take its place among the rush of Christmas programming.
