The Crown Season 6 - Release Date, Cast, And More Info

After 4 seasons of highly regarded prestige drama and, well, whatever season 5 was, "The Crown" is set to take its last bow with a two-part sixth season that begins in November. For years, fans of the show have anticipated seeing the way it will handle more modern events like the death of Princess Diana and the racist handling of Meghan Markle's time within the royal family. Based on new plot details about the upcoming season, it seems like the show's conclusion may only aim to tackle one of those events, but we'll know for sure when the show drops on Netflix next month.

Which castmates should we expect to return to "The Crown" for its last hurrah, and who will get the aged-up recast treatment? What historic events should we expect to see, and who's behind the camera for the final stretch of episodes? Is the show going to pull out of the weird royalist nosedive it took in season 5, or spend more time talking about the queen's yacht? Below, dig into everything we know so far about the end of "The Crown."

The final season of "The Crown" is getting the "Ozark" and "Bojack Horseman" treatment, as it's set to premiere in two installments on Netflix. This increasingly popular streaming release strategy is sometimes done for dramatic effect, but other times for practical reasons, as when the VFX team behind "Stranger Things" season 4 needed as much time as possible to work on its finale effects. In the case of "The Crown," it might be a storytelling choice; it will be difficult to transition past the death of Diana, and the series looks like it might employ a mid-season break to do so.

Part one of "The Crown" season 6 will hit streaming on November 16, 2023, while part 2 is due on December 14, 2023 — both Thursdays, both just before a holiday week. The first part will be 4 episodes long, while the second finishes up the story with 6 episodes.

According to official press materials, the first part of "The Crown" season 6 will remain focused on Diana (Elizabeth Debicki), who we last saw going on holiday with billionaire Mohamed Al-Fayed (Salim Daw). Diana famously dated Mohamed's film producer son Dodi (Khalid Abdalla), who died with her in a fatal car accident in 1997. The new season begins in 1997, so it will likely zoom in on Diana's last months alive and the aftermath of her passing.

The plot synopsis for the second half of the season is as follows:

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.

Apparently, the series is only set to run through the events of 2005, meaning the passing of Prince Philip in 2021 and Queen Elizabeth in 2022 may not end up in the show. That timeline would also cut out current conversations about the sins of the monarchy that have been driven by the very public mistreatment of Meghan Markle. Instead, the show seems set to wrap up in the aughts after portraying 50+ years of Elizabeth's reign.

Several of the major castmates in "The Crown" season 6 remain the same. Imelda Staunton, who took over for Olivia Colman and Claire Foy in the show's most recent season, will continue to play Elizabeth in her twilight years. Dominic West returns as Prince Charles (though there's no word yet on if he'll cornily dance with underprivileged youths again), Lesley Manville is Princess Margaret, and Jonathan Pryce will reappear as Prince Philip. As noted above, Daw, Abdalla, and Debicki will also return, with Debicki having taken over the role of Diana from Emma Corrin in season 5.

Fans can still expect two major recasts, though, in the form of the actors playing Prince Harry and Prince William. Rufus Campa will play a younger William, while Ed McVey will embody the older version of the future king. Fflyn Edwards plays young Prince Harry, with Luther Ford taking over the role as he grows older. Finally, newcomer Meg Bellamy is set to play Kate Middleton, William's future wife. The full cast list also reveals that Prime Minister Tony Blair will appear, played by Bertie Carvel.

The directorial slate for "The Crown" season 6 is not yet available, but we do know that series creator Peter Morgan is returning to write the show once again. Morgan has received several Emmy nominations for his writing on the show, winning the award in 2021. The heavily decorated series has taken home 21 Emmys total, and regularly receives accolades for its writing. Morgan has been the single credited writer on 45 of the show's 50 episodes to date, and since the show wrapped up production before the new WGA contract incorporated minimum staff sizes for most shows, it's perfectly possible he might be the sole author of most of the new season's scripts as well.

Morgan executive produces the show along with Suzanne Mackie and Andy Harries from Left Bank Pictures, plus Stephen Daldry, Matthew Byam Shaw, and Robert Fox.

So far, Netflix hasn't released a full season 6 trailer — or even a proper teaser — but earlier this month the streamer dropped a date announcement that functions as a first look at Staunton in elder Queen Elizabeth garb. The one-minute ad shows the queen making her way towards her balcony while key lines from past seasons of the show, including from Foy and Colman, are delivered via voiceover. After Elizabeth contemplates the life she could have had without the crown, we see her step out to face the crowds outside, wearing her signature white gloves and jaunty hat.

The teaser doesn't tell us much, but it does seem to confirm some fans' worries that the show has gotten more royalist in its old age. Early seasons of the series sharply (if at times subtly) criticized the monarchy, both in practice and in theory, and many viewers expected that stance to only solidify as the show wore on and Elizabeth transitioned from a wide-eyed pawn in a larger system to an established member of the ruling class. 

But instead, the fifth season functioned as a heel turn of sorts, weirdly retconning some of Charles' cruelty and asking audiences to feel for poor Elizabeth as she begins to lose relevance. Rather than focus on more sympathetic figures like Diana or her sons, the teaser is shot through with that same sense of sympathy for status quo-upholding Elizabeth, a move that might make viewers (the ones who aren't Queen Elizabeth stans, at least) apprehensive about the direction of season 6. We'll find out whether the show pulls off its goodbye when volume 1 hits Netflix on November 16, 2023.