Now that The Crown Season 6 is streaming on Netflix, should fans be expecting a Season 7 to release?
Created and written by The Queen's Peter Morgan, each season of the hit historical drama highlighted a different era of Queen Elizabeth II's reign with the sixth and latest season beginning in the '90s and ending in 2005.
Due to The Crown's success, and because the late monarch's reign continued until 2022, the question now is whether the series showrunners have further seasons in store.
Is The Crown Season 7 Coming to Netflix?
Before The Crown Season 6 debuted in late 2023, Netflix confirmed its new season would be its last.
However, the royal drama coming to a close wasn't entirely a Netflix decision.
According to series producer Suzanne Mackie via the Independent, showrunner Peter Morgan believes he "can't write something unless there has been time to gain a proper perspective:"
"Peter has said it very articulately, that he simply can’t write something unless there has been time to gain a proper perspective... And I think he’s always felt 10 years is the minimum amount of time that he can see something in a historical context, to allow him to really understand it. I don’t think he’ll deviate from that.”
Morgan also told Entertainment Weekly that ending the narrative in 2005 was a way to "keep it historical, not journalistic" and "dignified:"
"It was the cutoff to keep it historical, not journalistic... I think by stopping almost 20 years before the present day, it's dignified."
Now that Part 2 of Season 6 has come and gone, there's no doubt the final episode titled "Sleep, Dearie, Sleep" was approached as a series finale.
Not only did the episode focus on Queen Elizabeth grappling with her mortality, but it united Claire Foy, Olivia Colman, and Imelda Staunton, all three actresses who played the monarch through The Crown's run.
But even so, neither Peter Morgan nor Netflix planned to release Season 6.
While a six-season run was part of the series' original plan, by Season 4, The Crown was confirmed to wrap with Season 5.
But in July 2020, Peter Morgan explained via The New York Times that an additional season was needed "in order to do justice to the richness and complexity of the story" and "cover the same period in greater detail:"
“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.”
What Would The Crown Season 7 Cover?
While another extension of The Crown is unlikely, if history were to repeat and Netflix greenlit a Season 7, Peter Morgan would have nearly two decades of new material on which to base new episodes.
Potential storylines would surely involve the 2011 wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, both at the center of Part 2 of The Crown Season 6, and the birth of their firstborn, Prince George, the future king of the United Kingdom.
As for the series central figure, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip celebrated their Diamond Anniversary in 2007, and in 2015, she became Britain's longest-ruling monarch with 65 years on the throne
One of the more recent and dramatic storylines could involve Prince Harry's engagement to Suits star Meghan Markle, their 2018 wedding, shocking "Megxit" from the United Kingdom, their royal duties, and that bombshell interview with Oprah in 2021.
While only time will tell if Netflix will revive the royal drama, Peter Morgan admitted to Variety that he has "an idea" for a prequel of The Crown.
And, while there's plenty of royal drama today, the years before Queen Elizabeth II's ascension were equally rich in storytelling potential.
For instance, Morgan's choices range from Queen Victoria's reign to King Edward VIII's controversial relationship with American Wallis Simpson, the 1937 abdication crisis, and the reign of Queen Elizabeth II's parents throughout World War II.
The Crown Seasons 1-6 are streaming on Netflix.
