'The Crown' Will End After 5 Seasons and a New Queen Has Been Cast

The Crown will end after five seasons.

Peter Morgan, the creator, writer and executive producer of the Netflix series, announced on Friday that he has decided to end the show after five seasons.

"At the outset I had imagined The Crown running for six seasons but now that we have begun work on the stories for season five it has become clear to me that this is the perfect time and place to stop," Morgan said in a statement to ET. "I’m grateful to Netflix and Sony for supporting me in this decision."

In addition to the announcement regarding the show's end, Morgan shared that he has cast Imelda Staunton as his final Queen Elizabeth II. The role was played by Claire Foy in the show's first two seasons and taken over by Olivia Colman in season three, which premiered in November 2019. Colman will reprise the role for the yet-to-debut season four.

"I’m absolutely thrilled to confirm Imelda Staunton as Her Majesty The Queen for the fifth and final season, taking The Crown into the 21st Century," Morgan said. "Imelda is an astonishing talent and will be a fantastic successor to Claire Foy and Olivia Colman."

In a statement released on the show's Twitter page, Staunton expressed excitement about her latest role.

"I have loved watching The Crown from the very start. As an actor it was a joy to see how both Claire Foy and Olivia Colman brought something special and unique to Peter Morgan's scripts," she said. "I am genuinely honored to be joining such an exceptional creative team and to be taking The Crown to its conclusion."

Cindy Holland, VP of Original Content at Netflix, also addressed the show's end and Staunton's casting in a statement to ET.

"The first three seasons of The Crown defined an era, and I know the upcoming fourth season will build further on that success," Holland said. "It’s a stunning example of award-winning entertainment, created in the UK and loved by millions of fans around the world."

"I fully support Peter Morgan’s creative decision and am excited to see how he, Imelda Staunton and the cast and crew of Season 5, bring this landmark series to a fitting and spectacular end," she added.

The news comes after Suzanne Mackie, the executive producer of The Crown, said it was unlikely that the show would cover present day royal drama, like Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's recent exit as senior members of the royal family. That was likely happy news for Harry, who is reported as having said that he would like to stop the show before it reaches his life.

"To be honest, whatever the life of The Crown is after where we are now, I doubt we'll ever go as far into the present day," Suzanne Mackie told PA (via the BBC), adding, "I think we'll probably -- we won't travel into the present day."

Previously, Morgan had said that Markle herself likely wouldn't make it into the show.

"It's too close to the moment," he told Entertainment Weekly in 2018. "I feel uncomfortable writing about events within a certain time period."

Watch the video below for more on The Crown.

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