Here’s How ‘The Crown’ Ended
The Netflix juggernaut concluded with all four versions of Queen Elizabeth II
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After six seasons and nearly a decade, Netflix’s award-winning crown jewel has come to an end. “The Crown” took its last bow this Wednesday with the release of Season 6 Part 2.
To celebrate this historic series, here’s exactly how the Peter Morgan drama came to an end.
How did “The Crown” end?
The final episode of “The Crown” revolves around Queen Elizabeth (Imelda Staunton) asking one of the most difficult questions of her long life: should she hang up her title and pass it to her son Prince Charles of Wales (Dominic West)? Or should she stay true to her promise to her people and remain Queen until her death?
Of course, we know the answer to this question. But “The Crown” takes care to examine both sides of this thorny issue through ghosts of Elizabeth’s past. On her shoulder urging for her to step down is Olivia Colman, the actor who portrayed Queen Elizabeth throughout her middle age during Seasons 3 and 4. On her other shoulder rests Claire Foy, who played the Queen during Seasons 1 and 2, urging her to retain the throne.
This looming question of succession begins early in the episode as the Queen begins to plan for her own funeral. After a quiet conversation with her husband Prince Phillip (Jonathan Pryce), Olivia Colman’s younger version of the character appears to Staunton in the stables.
“You coward, why didn’t you tell him what you’ve been thinking since you first started working on your funeral? In fact since the Golden Jubilee?” Colman asks. “How tired not just tired how exhausted you are by it all? How ready for a rest, and at the same time how ready he suddenly looks.”
When the older version of the Queen presses her on who she’s referring to, Colman simply says “Charles.”
“Stepping down is the right thing to do, as Queen and as mother,” Colman says.
It seems as Staunton is prepared to take this advice. Ahead of Prince Charles’ wedding to Camilla Parker Bowles (Olivia Williams), she announces that she will be making a speech that she will write herself. Everyone — including her husband, children and grandchildren — suspects she plans to use this gathering as an opportunity to announce Charles taking over the crown. But as she’s writing out this power change, a much younger version of herself appears.
“You say that Charlies is in his prime, well I see you in yours. And admit it. You sometimes think there’s a difference between you and the rest of the family,” Foy tells her. “It comes naturally to you. They all seem to make such mess of it.”
Foy’s version of the Queen goes on to say that the Royal Family is a “dreadful thing” to inflict upon anyone. “It’s not natural. It’s not fair. It’s not kind. But you seem to thrive under it. And more importantly, it seems to thrive under you. So shouldn’t you stay for every single day that you can?” she says.
“But what about the life I put aside, the woman I put aside when I became Queen?” Staunton asks.
Confidently, Foy’s version of Elizabeth tells her that version of herself, the young Elizabeth Windsor, can’t be found anymore.
When it’s finally time for the Queen to give her speech, “The Crown” stays true to history. Queen Elizabeth congratulates her son, thanks Camilla Parker Bowles but does not pass along her title. Up until the final moments of this series, she chooses to stay true to the promise she made her people and serve them throughout her entire life.
“The Crown” ends with Elizabeth alone in St. George’s Chapel inside Windsor Castle, away from the crowds. As she imagines her eventual casket, all three versions of herself appear — her teenage self (Viola Prettejohn), her as a young Queen (Claire Foy) and her as a mature ruler (Olivia Colman). As they smile at the woman she became, Imelda Staunton exits the cathedral alone.
What year is it when “The Crown” ends?
The real Prince Charles of Wales and Camilla Parker Bowles were married on April 9, 2005, which is when the final episode of “The Crown” takes place. Just like in the show, they were wed in a civil ceremony at Windsor Guildhall that did not include the Queen. However, the wedding was followed by a Church of England Service of Prayer and Dedication at St George’s Chapel that was attended by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
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