Netflix to end ‘The Crown’ series after Season 5

Netflix’s hit drama series “The Crown” about the British royal family will end earlier than expected and has revealed its next and last queen.

The show’s creator and show-runner Peter Morgan had said he expected to create six seasons, but now thinks five is the “perfect time and place to stop. This mean that the show will not show the present day particularly the exit of Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle from the royal family.

Imelda Staunton has been tapped to be the last actress to play Queen Elizabeth II. She will take the crown in the fifth season from Olivia Colman, who earlier succeeded Claire Foy. “Imelda is an astonishing talent and will be a fantastic successor,” Morgan said in a statement on Friday.

Imelda Staunton will play Queen Elizabeth II in the fifth and final season of The Crown. pic.twitter.com/hUOob58A9p

— The Crown (@TheCrownNetflix) January 31, 2020

Each season of The Crown has covered roughly a decade in the British monarch’s life and times, with Season 3 taking us up to 1977. Season 4 will likely cover the ’80s and some of the ’90s including the appearance of Princess Diana, ending with a fifth season before Prince William and Prince Harry’s adulthood.

Staunton is herself a longtime Crown fan and has expressed her excitement on taking the role. “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 in a statement. “I am genuinely honored to be joining such an exceptional creative team and to be taking The Crown to its conclusion.”

Staunton is an Olivier Award-winner whose films include Vera Drake, Nanny McPhee and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. She played Lady Maud Bagshaw in the Downton Abbey movie.

The Crown has won a Golden Globe for best TV drama and both Foy and Colman have won best actress Globes in the royal role. The Crown Seasons 1-3 are now streaming on Netflix.