What's happened in The Crown so far?

Recap of season 1 of The Crown 

Season 1 kicked off with Claire Foy and Matt Smith’s renditions of Elizabeth and Philip shortly before their wedding. It’s made clear that while Philip isn’t everyone’s first choice for the future consort, Elizabeth will have no one else. Early episodes lay the groundwork both for Elizabeth and Philip’s early relationship and the rapidly declining health of her father, King George VI, a shy man with a crippling stutter who was not born to be king, but was forced to take the throne. Well, you all remember from The King’s Speech...   

The early years of Queen Elizabeth II 

George VI hadn’t been first in line for the throne, but when his brother Edward abdicated in order to marry Mrs. Wallis Simpson, George, known to his family as Bertie, was left to take over. This chain of events is what lead to Elizabeth becoming the heir to the throne, and when her father died of lung cancer at a young age, she had to take on the crown far earlier than she had planned at the age of just 25.   

We start to see signs early on that Philip may not be suited to his life in the shadow of his wife, seeming perpetually restless and irritated. He helps organise her coronation and has the controversial idea to televise the event for the first time. His plan does wonders for the Royal family and sets him on a path of modernisation, which will consistently be met with pushback from the traditionalists. By the end of the season, Elizabeth tries to give Philip a role and some space to shine on his own, asking him to open the Melbourne Olympics in 1956, followed by a five-month tour of the Commonwealth. Philip begrudgingly agrees, setting the scene for season 2 which explores more of Philip’s childhood and the Royal relationship.  

Family ties 

Meanwhile, Princess Margaret (Vanessa Kirby), the Queen’s more outgoing and charismatic sister, is swept up in an ill-fated romance with Peter Townsend (Ben Miles), a much older married man and former equerry to the King. This puts Elizabeth in an awkward situation – as Queen, she must bless the union, but as head of the church, she is unable to due to Peter’s divorce. After years of waiting Margaret is told she can marry Peter, but only if she gives up her royal title and privileges. In a heartbreaking scene, Margaret breaks off her relationship with Peter, and her always competitive relationship with her sister is left in tatters.   

Politics 

Politically, an ageing Winston Churchill (John Lithgow) is Prime Minister. Churchill guides Elizabeth in her early days, but is facing criticism from within the Conservative Party who want to replace him with Anthony Eden (Jeremy Northam). We learn of a softer side to Churchill who lost a daughter when she was just three, and he eventually steps down to be replaced by Eden, but he quickly gets wrapped up in the Suez Crisis and falls ill himself.   

Season 1 introduces us to historical figures we know and ones we don’t to show the larger story of the royal family. There’s Philip, the brash and opinionated consort, Margaret, the overshadowed and vibrant sister, the Queen Mother (Victoria Hamilton), who is grieving the loss of her husband and the loss of her role, and then the many members of staff who keep the wheels turning, including Tommy Lascelles (Pip Torrens), who ends up playing a significant role throughout season 1 and 2. At the heart of it all is Elizabeth, who is young, shy and learning to take on a seemingly impossible role as monarch where she must remain strong and silent at all times.   

Recap of season 2 of The Crown 

Season 2 of The Crown covers the mid-1950s to the early 1960s, taking a closer look at Elizabeth and Philip’s relationship and Philip’s background, as well as a few big royal scandals of course. At the end of season 1, Prince Philip agreed to open the Olympic Games in Australia and embark on a 5-month tour of the Commonwealth. The strain this puts on the Royal marriage is at the core of season 2, with hints at possible infidelity on the Prince’s side. Here are the main things you need to remember for season 2:  

Royal Marriages 

Tensions rise throughout the season due to their long separation, coming to a head with The Profumo Affair, a sex scandal at the heart of the British government in 1963 when politician John Profumo was supposed to have had a sexual relationship with a model named Christine Keeler. The two met at a party hosted by osteopath to the stars, Stephen Ward – an osteopath that we see Philip visit at least once. While it’s left uncertain whether Philip was involved or had been unfaithful, Philip denies it and commits himself to Elizabeth who is pregnant with their fourth child.  

While the Queen struggles with her own marriage, Margaret has become infatuated with society photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones (Matthew Goode) after her break-up with Peter Townsend. Peter Townsend was safe, traditional and reliable – Antony, by contrast, is modern, unconventional and involved in multiple affairs with both men and women. Margaret is attracted to him for exactly these reasons, though she doesn’t know about the affairs, and hopes to marry him "unconventionally." Spurred on by finding out Peter is engaged, Margaret rushes into an engagement. Despite Elizabeth finding out about Antony’s affairs, she gives her blessing to avoid another fallout with her sister, and the pair get married in 1960.   

Family history 

We also get a look back at Prince Philip’s difficult family history, including the death of his favourite sister in a plane crash. This partly explains why Philip is so determined for his son, the young and sensitive Prince Charles, to follow in his footsteps and go to Gordonstoun school in Scotland. Despite Charles not fitting in at this tough school, Philip puts his foot down, leaving Charles at the place he later would call “Colditz with kilts.”  

A huge Royal family secret is also revealed surrounding Elizabeth’s uncle and former king, Edward. When top-secret documents from World War II resurface, it is revealed that Edward was in fact a Nazi sympathiser, who not only visited Hitler, but fed information to the Nazis during the war in hopes of being reinstated as king, effectively dethroning his brother and betraying his country. After learning this horrifying news, Elizabeth exiles Edward from England for good, and allows the documents to be published.   

Politics and scandals 

This season we also see Prime Minister Anthony Eden struggling with the Suez Crisis and then stepping aside for Harold MacMillian, who also ends up stepping down, much to Queen Elizabeth’s disappointment as she had previously told him England needed stability.   

We also get to meet President Kennedy and his wife Jackie on their visit to Buckingham Palace in 1961, prior to JFK’s assassination in 1963. This is a particularly interesting episode as it uncovers not only British history, but some of the private lives of the Kennedys, who are often thought of as American Royalty.   

Recap of season 3 of The Crown 

In season 3 we saw a change in the cast as we jump ahead to the mid-1960s and on to the Queen’s Silver Jubilee in 1977. Queen Elizabeth is now played by Olivia Colman, and Prince Philip by Tobias Menzies. With the political turmoil and change the 1960s and 1970s brought, it’s a turbulent time for the Windsors, with scandals including the Cambridge Five Spy Ring, the Aberfan disaster, struggles between the Crown and Labour government, the death of the Duke of Windsor, a near coup and a controversial visit to the White House...

Here are a few of the key bits you’ll need to remember:   

Scandal and a national disaster 

Season 3 begins with Harold Wilson’s election as PM, the first of the Queen’s Labour ministers. The Queen is initially suspicious of Wilson after hearing rumours he may be a Russian spy. As it turns out, it is the Queen’s private art collector, Anthony Blunt, who is the KGB spy, and to avoid an international scandal, he is allowed to continue his role in the palace under a close eye from MI5.   

While this scandal stayed hidden, the Aberfan disaster is out in the open. In 1966, a school in Wales is buried under a collapsed coal tip, killing 116 children and 28 adults. This harrowing episode brings what is seen as the Queen’s coldness to light as she is painfully slow to react to the horrifying disaster. As the government tries to shift blame away from themselves and onto the Royal family, her relationship with Harold Wilson becomes strained.   

Meanwhile, Lord Mountbatten is removed from his position as Admiral of the Fleet, and his lack of a role leads him to be sucked into the idea of a coup, removing Harold Wilson from power. To do this, he needs the Queen on side. Elizabeth learns of his plans and quickly rushes back to the UK to put a stop to it. With this we see the old powerhouses like Lord Mountbatten moved to the backseat.   

Unhappy marriages and more scandal 

Meanwhile, Princess Margaret is now being played by Helena Bonham Carter, while Antony Armstrong-Jones' role is taken over by Ben Daniels. Their marriage has not fared well through the years, and while they’re still together, they seem intent on destroying each other, with infidelities on both sides, and ruthless power games between them.   

Season 3 has episodes focusing on Margaret’s success with President Johnson on a visit to the White House, as well as her affair with Roddy Llewellyn which made the front page of the tabloids. This unhappy marriage cumulates in divorce and Margaret’s attempted suicide in the final episode, and a moment of surprising softness between the two sisters.   

The next generation 

Most importantly, season 3 introduces us to the next generation of royals, not as children, but as adults. We see Prince Charles (Josh O’Connor) go to Aberystwyth to study Welsh to prepare him for his investiture as the Prince of Wales, and it’s here we start to see hints of Charles’ independent thinking which is at odds with his mother’s.   

We also see Charles’ early relationship with Camilla Shand (Emerald Fennel), his future wife. This relationship comes out a love triangle between Charles, Camilla Shand, Andrew Parker-Bowles (Andrew Bunchan) and, interestingly enough, Princess Anne (Erin Doherty). Princess Anne is one of the best things about this season, and while she doesn’t have as much screen time as Charles, the limited time she is on screen makes it clear she’s the wittiest and most down-to-earth of the Royals.   

Anne comes between Camilla and Andrew, so Camilla moves on to Charles. It’s all a bit complicated, but ultimately, once the family realises Charles is serious about Camilla, their relationship is sabotaged by the Queen Mother and Lord Mountbatten. She reunites Camilla with her ex, Andrew Parker-Bowles, and marries them off, while sending Charles out to Barbados with the Navy. And we all know how that works out...  

Season 3 ends with the Queen wondering what she’s accomplished in her 25 years on the throne, with the miner’s strike leaving people in darkness across the country and her slowly but steadily losing her grip of the family. But as Margaret tells her, her role is not to flinch, to paper over the cracks, and to keep going. 

Recap of season 4 of The Crown 

In season 4 we covered the 1980s as Margaret Thatcher becomes the first female Prime Minister and Diana Spencer comes into the picture. The cast remained largely the same as in season 3, with a few fantastic new editions including Emma Corrin as young Princess Diana and Gillian Anderson as Margaret Thatcher. Here are the main points to remember:

Charles and Diana 

The stand-out plot of season 4 was the unhappy marriage of Prince Charles (Josh O'Connor) and Lady Diana Spencer (Emma Corrin). At the beginning of the season, Charles is still infatuated with Camilla, but after his grandfather figure Lord Mountbatten is killed by the IRA, he chooses to finally find a wife. He meets the much younger Diana Spencer while dating her older sister, and when she reenters the picture later on, she seems like the perfect "candidate." Passing the “Balmoral Test” with flying colours, the Windsor family is also on board with the match, and so Charles proposes, though the warning signs are there from the very start... 

The fairy-tale wedding goes ahead in 1981, but the couple still barely know each other and are wildly incompatible. Despite the birth of Prince William in 1982 and Prince Harry in 1984, and a few desperate attempts at romance on their Australian tour in 1983, jealousy and infidelity are constant issues, not to mention Charles’ continued affair with Camilla Parker-Bowles (Emerald Fennell). By the end of the series, Princess Anne (Erin Doherty) tells the Queen that “the Windsor marriage is a rare example of it actually being worse than the papers report.”  

In episode 9, entitled “Avalanche”, Charles tries to draw a line under the marriage and end it after almost being killed in a skiing accident. However, he’s cut off by Diana who says she wants to make things work, which is good enough for the Queen and Prince Philip. Charles opts to remain distant from Diana, waiting for her to slip up and be unfaithful again so he can end things. However, there’s also tension between Charles and Camilla, as after Diana’s successful solo trip to New York City in 1989 Camilla says in the court of public opinion, Diana will always be loved and she’ll always be the villain. Anne also warns Charles that his love for Camilla may not be what he imagines and that he’s the only person who wants his marriage with Diana to end.  

Even so, things come to a head at the Windsors’ 1990 Christmas party at Balmoral where it’s clear both Charles and Diana have given up. However, the Queen gives Charles a talking-to and tells him that both he and Diana were essentially being spoilt brats and need to pull it together for the good of the family, leaving things unresolved for season 5 where the drama surrounding their separation and divorce in the 1990s will be a big storyline.  

Maggie Thatcher 

Gillian Anderson also joined the cast as Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The series explored the similarities and differences between Thatcher and Queen Elizabeth II. Over her time in office, the series explored everything from her view on the Commonwealth to apartheid in South Africa, the Falklands War in 1982 and the mass unemployment which Britain dealt with over the decade. 

Ultimately The Iron Lady was cast out in 1990, but the Queen recognised her contribution to the country and presented her with the Order of Merit. Since Margaret Thatcher lived until 2013, there’s still a chance she’ll reappear in the next season in the same way Winston Churchill did even after stepping down from office, but we’ll just have to see if The Iron Lady will return. 

Family secrets  

Finally, season 4 also gave us a look at Prince Andrew (Tom Byrne) and Prince Edward (Angus Imirie) as the younger princes come of age and get married. Prince Andrew’s marriage to Sarah Ferguson (Jessica Aquilina) happened in the background of series 4, and will presumably become a bigger storyline in series 5 as their marriage and divorce hit the headlines.  

We also saw Princess Margaret (Helena Bonham Carter) continuing to struggle with her role within the family, as well as her health – both mental and physical. In her journey we see her discover that her cousins from her mother’s side of the family were institutionalized and wiped from history for “the good of the crown”, shining a light yet again on how brutal the royals can be to their own.  

We’re sure more secrets from the past will be revealed in series 5, along with the many scandals that came to light in the 1990s...

How can I watch season 5 of The Crown? 

Season 5 of The Crown will be released in full on Wednesday 9th November, so you can watch the whole series there along with the first 4 seasons.  

For now, find out everything we know about season 5 of The Crown, including a fresh new cast!