<Tr> <Th_colspan="2"> External links </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> Website </Td> </Tr> <P> The Crown is a historical drama television series, created and principally written by Peter Morgan and produced by Left Bank Pictures and Sony Pictures Television for Netflix . The show is a biographical story about the reign of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom . The first season covers the period from her marriage to Philip, Duke of Edinburgh in 1947 to the disintegration of her sister Princess Margaret's engagement to Peter Townsend in 1955 . The second season covers the period from the Suez Crisis in 1956 to the retirement of the Queen's third Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, in 1963 and the birth of Prince Edward in 1964 . The third season will continue on from 1964, covering Harold Wilson's two terms as the Queen's Prime Minister until 1976, while the fourth season will see Margaret Thatcher's premiership and a focus on Diana, Princess of Wales . </P> <P> The Crown evolved out of Morgan's 2006 film The Queen and 2013 stage play The Audience . The series is intended to last 60 episodes over six seasons, with 10 one - hour episodes per season, covering Elizabeth's life from her younger years to her reign, and with new actors being cast every two seasons . Claire Foy portrays the Queen in the first two seasons, alongside Matt Smith as Prince Philip and Vanessa Kirby as Princess Margaret . Olivia Colman will take over for Foy as the Queen in the third and fourth seasons . Filming for the series takes place at Elstree Studios in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, with location shooting at various locations throughout the United Kingdom . </P>

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