Looking on back on the inaugural season's highlights.
When The Crown debuted in 2016, it immediately delivered the best of the best of what television could offer — from its dazzling sets and costumes, exquisite writing by creator Peter Morgan, and acting performances that broke out fresh talent and cemented the legacies of its stars. The first season started a wave of awards nominations and wins for the regal portrait of the reign of Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain, winning two Golden Globes, two SAG awards and three Emmys across its cast and crafts.
Here we dive into some of the most memorable moments from the first season of The Crown, from the wedding of Elizabeth and Philip to Winston Churchill’s resignation, as noted in Tudum’s in-depth timeline of the acclaimed series.
Queen Elizabeth (Claire Foy)
Princess Elizabeth Marries Philip Mountbatten
Episode 1, Wolferton Splash
After relinquishing his Greek and Danish titles, the newly renamed Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten (Matt Smith), 26, marries 21-year-old Princess Elizabeth (Claire Foy) at Westminster Abbey in front of their nearest and dearest — plus 2,000 guests and 200 million BBC radio listeners. Ever the attention seeker, former (but soon-to-return) prime minister Winston Churchill (John Lithgow) threatens to steal Elizabeth’s thunder by parading down the aisle just before she processes in with her father, King George VI (Jared Harris). A year later, Princess Elizabeth gives birth to Prince Charles, and nearly two years after that, her first and only daughter, Princess Anne, is born. During Season 1 production, teams of six people worked for six weeks at a time embroidering Elizabeth’s wedding train and dress.
Queen Elizabeth (Claire Foy) and Prince Philip (Matt Smith)
King George VI Dies
Episode 2, Hyde Park Corner
Having undergone lung surgery a year earlier, King George continues to decline in health. (Things aren’t looking great for Churchill — who was reelected as prime minister in 1951 — either as his cabinet members begin to question how much longer the nearly 80-year-old leader should serve.) Princess Elizabeth and Philip are touring the Commonwealth and are in Kenya when King George dies in his sleep at the Sandringham Estate on Feb. 6, 1952. The news reaches Elizabeth and Philip later that day, and they’re forced to fly home, where Princess Elizabeth assumes the title of Queen Elizabeth II much sooner than she imagined, at just 25.
Queen Elizabeth (Claire Foy) and Prince Philip (Matt Smith)
Elizabeth Is Crowned Queen
Episode 5, Smoke and Mirrors
Elizabeth’s big day arrives and — for the first time ever during a coronation — cameras film inside Westminster Abbey as she’s crowned by the Archbishop of Canterbury. Her wedding to the Duke of Edinburgh might’ve drawn a big crowd, but the queen’s crowning moment brings 96,000 people out in the streets, while roughly 277 million people watched the broadcast around the world.
Peter Townsend (Ben Miles) and Princess Margaret (Vanessa Kirby)
Princess Margaret’s Love Life Enters the Spotlight
Episode 6, Gelignite
After years of press speculation, the romance between 23-year-old Princess Margaret (Vanessa Kirby) and Peter Townsend, 38, (Ben Miles) — Queen Elizabeth’s deputy master of the household — is made public. The couple intends to marry, but Margaret needs her sister’s permission to marry the former RAF officer since she’s under 25. Elizabeth asks her sister to wait a year to get engaged, expressing concern that a marriage to the divorced father of two couldn’t be recognized by the Church of England or accepted by the Commonwealth. In the end, due to the establishment’s disapproval, Townsend is appointed air attaché at the British Embassy in Brussels, effectively ending their romance and straining the relationship between the royal sisters.
Winston Churchill (John Lithgow)
Winston Churchill Resigns as Prime Minister
Episode 9, Assassins
Winston Churchill suffers a decline in his mental and physical health and, after offering the country his blood, toil, tears, and sweat for years, he tenders his resignation to Buckingham Palace. The poignant moment between prime minister and queen puts an end to a chapter of history and to a chapter of the series as the scenes between Foy and Lithgow proved to draw out award-winning performances.
