'The Crown' Season 6, Part 1 Trailer Takes Us To Paris

There are few things that are assured in life. Death, taxes, and the U.K. monarchy seem to be three of them, though it takes a lot of work for the last of them to maintain that illusion. However, the passing of Queen Elizabeth II and the remarkably smooth way King Charles III simply slid onto that throne with little resistance from the British public suggests that maybe the Windsors had less to worry about than they thought. After all, it was only a very few years ago that The Crown Season 4 seemed to have Charles so worried, that he was having people randomly blast it.

But all TV shows come to an end, and though Netflix is going full Stranger Things with The Crown Season 6, dividing the final season into two parts spaced out over a month's time, by the end of the year, Peter Morgan's attempt at going full William Shakespeare with a first draft of the Second Elizabethan era will conclude. Whether his take will be the defining one that fixes the Windsors in our minds, like Shakespeare did with Richard III, or whether it will take a few hundred years before Liz II's defining portrait is drawn will be one for future historians to know.

For now, we can only watch the trailer and get on the road to Paris with the rest of the "Mad World."

Here's the synopsis for the final season: 

A relationship blossoms between Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed before a fateful car journey has devastating consequences.

Prince William tries to integrate back into life at Eton in the wake of his mother’s death as the monarchy has to ride the wave of public opinion. As she reaches her Golden Jubilee, the Queen reflects on the future of the monarchy with the marriage of Charles and Camilla and the beginnings of a new Royal fairytale in William and Kate.

Despite the synopsis doing its best to put an immediate spin to flatter the current monarch couple and pivot away, the key art for part one tells a much different story, as does the trailer.

The final season cast is enormous, with Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth II, Jonathan Pryce as Prince Philip, Lesley Manville as Princess Margaret, Marcia Warren as The Queen Mother, Dominic West as Prince Charles, Claudia Harrison as Princess Anne, James Murray as Prince Andrew, and Sam Woolf as Prince Edward. Elizabeth Debicki plays Princess Diana, Olivia Williams plays Camilla Parker Bowles, and Theo Fraser Steele plays Timothy Laurence. Part 1 will also feature Rufus Kampa as Prince William and Fflyn Edwards as Prince Harry. 

Outside the main royal household, Bertie Carvel plays Prime Minister Tony Blair, Lydia Leonard plays Cherie Blair, Andrew Havill plays the Queen's secretary, Robert Fellowes, Salim Daw plays Mohamed Al Fayed, and Khalid Abdalla plays Diana's boyfriend, Dodi Fayed. As the top key art suggests, previous actors who played Queen Elizabeth II, Claire Foy and Olivia Colman, will reprise their roles, along with Viola Prettejohn as WWII-era Princess Elizabeth. Beau Gadsdon will also play WWII-era Princess Margaret.

The Crown was created and written by Peter Morgan, who also executive produces along with Suzanne Mackie, Andy Harries, Stephen Daldry, Matthew Byam Shaw, and Robert Fox.

The Crown Season 6 Part 1, consisting of the first four episodes, will premiere on Thursday, November 16. Part 2, the other six episodes, will premiere on Thursday, December 14, 2023. Seasons 1-5 are streaming on Netflix.