Debuting in 2016, the acclaimed and award-winning Netflix dramatic series “The Crown” has become one of the most beloved series on television. According to Wikipedia, it has been nominated 423 for various awards and won 129 awards. To break that down into the most important ones, “The Crown” won all seven drama categories at the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards in 2021, becoming the first show to sweep the major drama categories. It won the Emmys top dramatic series prize, Outstanding Drama Series, in 2021 and 2020, and was nominated in 2018 and 2017. It has dozens of Emmys under its belt.
So, it’s not surprising that eventually, the producers will have to look to the past as “The Crown” won’t take long to catch up to a modern setting, and season five takes place in the 1990s leading up to the tragic death of Princess Diana.
The show’s production company, Left Bank Pictures, and Netflix are already in early talks about developing a prequel, according to a report from Deadline that backs up the original scoop from the Daily Mail. However, they’re quick to point out that deals and writers aren’t in place as it’s still very early, but they gave some hints of where in the royal timeline it could take place.
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Although they couldn’t give exact specifics, they did offer two potential options for this yet-be-greenlit prequel series. Taking place before WWII or possibly even the late Victorian era during the reign of Queen Victoria. Personally, the latter sounds a bit more appealing considering Victorian era Britain has always been quite the visual feast for the eyes and could open the door for even more prequels in the future.
Created by Peter Morgan, he is not mentioned in the report as being involved, but there’s a good bet nothing would happen without his ok and at least some involvement. The Daily Mail makes bolder claims that there are five prequel shows. Take that nugget with the grain of salt though.
We could speculate there is a strong possibility creative teams could go even further back to Queen Elizabeth at some point as well and simply cover all British Queens throughout history. This would give Netflix plenty of dramatic true-life events to explore for years to come, and they could move beyond The Windsors.
“The Crown” is expected to end with a sixth and final series, making plans for another incarnation feel like a way to keep the popular show going and Netflix subscribers happy.