How Queen Elizabeth’s Death Will Affect ‘The Crown’ Season 5 Netflix Premiere

As the world mourns the death of Queen Elizabeth II following the long-reigning British monarch’s passing on Sept. 8 at the age of 96, fans of Netflix’s Emmy-winning series The Crown have been wondering how the show will deal with the Queen’s death. 

With the Season 5 premiere slated for November 2022, it’s possible the show could face delays as per The Crown‘s “own version of Operation London Bridge,” an inside source told The New York Post, which planned for the monarch’s potential passing. “This is particularly pertinent for if we are filming,” the source explained. “Filming will shut down immediately if we are in production, for at least a week. There would also be lots of discussion about when to restart.” 

Filming for Season 6 isn’t slated to happen until later this year, so it’s unclear if next season’s schedule would be affected by the Queen’s death, but the possibility also remains that Season 5 could be postponed out of respect for the royal family. There won’t be major rewrites needed, however, as showrunner Peter Morgan assured The Hollywood Reporter that The Crown will end before it gets to the modern era. 

“I try to keep focused on history and not the present day,” he said in August 2021. “I like to make sure there is at least a generation between the events I’m writing about and what’s going on all around me.” Season 5 will reportedly cover the death of Princess Diana in 1997, while the sixth and final season will reach as far as the early aughts, it “will not bring us any closer to present day,” Morgan clarified. 

Queen Elizabeth passed away at Balmoral, her beloved palace in the Scottish Highlands, while surrounded by her children and grandchildren, the palace revealed in a statement Thursday. “The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon. The King and The Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow,” the statement reads. “Flags across the U.K. were lowered to half-mast ahead of a national minute’s silence and the start of an official period of mourning.”

The Queen’s death comes just under 18 months after the death of her husband of more than 73 years, Prince Philip. Their eldest son, Prince Charles, succeeds her as King at 73 years old. The UK is expected to go into a period of mourning over the next 10 days. The state funeral will reportedly be held at Westminster Abbey, before she is moved to her final resting place Windsor Castle’s King George VI Memorial Chapel.