The Crown creator Peter Morgan has opened up about how the Queen’s death made him doubt whether he wanted to continue with the show.
Reflecting on the final season of the multi-award winning show at aNetflix FYSEE event on Monday (13 May), the showrunner and writer spoke about the impact of Queen Elizabeth II’s passing in September 2022, which occurred while season six was still being filmed.
Peter began by explaining how he always saw the royal drama “as a story about the two houses, Buckingham Palace and Downing Street”, rather than simply “a story about the Royal Family”.
The two-time Golden Globe-winner then admitted: “This is going to sound mad, but I’m not really that interested in the monarchy.”
Elaborating, Peter said he’s more focused on “mothers, sons, wives, husbands – that’s really what it’s about”, in addition to “this rather extraordinary woman” at the heart of it.
“And for me the minute she died, I suppose, from that moment on, I didn’t really want to do it anymore, because it’s really about her as well,” he noted.
After the Queen’s death production briefly shut down out of respect, before season five of The Crown was released in November 2022. The final season then premiered in November and December of 2023.
Last year, Imelda Staunton – who played the Queen in the final two seasons of the show – opened up about returning to work on the show following the monarch’s death.
“We didn’t have a big scene to do, but there were still a lot of people and it was an odd atmosphere. It was just quite quiet, actually,” she shared. “Quiet and respectful. For all of us.”
