The fourth season of The Crown, which follows the life and reign of Queen Elizabeth II, was released by Netflix on 15 November 2020.
Olivia Colman stars as Elizabeth, with main cast members Tobias Menzies, Helena Bonham Carter, Josh O'Connor, Marion Bailey, Erin Doherty and Emerald Fennell all reprising their roles from the third season. Gillian Anderson, Emma Corrin and Stephen Boxer are added to the main cast. Additionally, Charles Dance returns in the season's first episode and Claire Foy reprises her role as Elizabeth in a cameo flashback scene.
Season 4 of The Crown received critical praise for the performances of its cast members. It was also the most-awarded season, making history as the first drama series to sweep all major categories at the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards, with a leading eleven total wins (including seven major wins) from a leading twenty-four total nominations (including eleven major nominations). The season became the only one to win the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series.
Premise The Crown traces the life of Queen Elizabeth II from her wedding in 1947 to the present day.
Season 4 spans 1979–1990, during Margaret Thatcher's 11-year premiership. Events depicted include the courtship and wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer, their 1983 tour of Australia and New Zealand, the Falklands War, Michael Fagan's break-in at Buckingham Palace, the assassination and funeral of Lord Mountbatten, the Princess of Wales's appearance at the Barnardo's Champion Children Awards, and at the end of the series, Thatcher's departure from office, as well as the marital difficulties of Charles and Diana.
Cast
Main
Olivia Colman as Queen Elizabeth II Tobias Menzies as Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Elizabeth's husband Helena Bonham Carter as Princess Margaret, Elizabeth's younger sister Gillian Anderson as Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Josh O'Connor as Prince Charles, Elizabeth and Philip's eldest child and the heir apparent Emma Corrin as Lady Diana Spencer, Charles's fiancée; later the Princess of Wales as his wife Marion Bailey as Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, Elizabeth II's mother Erin Doherty as Princess Anne, Elizabeth and Philip's second child and only daughter Stephen Boxer as Denis Thatcher, Margaret Thatcher's husband Emerald Fennell as Camilla Parker Bowles, Charles's long-time lover
Featured The following actors are credited in the opening titles of single episodes in which they play a significant role: Charles Dance as Lord Mountbatten, Philip's uncle and a father figure to Charles Tom Brooke as Michael Fagan, a man who entered Elizabeth's bedroom in Buckingham Palace in 1982 Richard Roxburgh as Bob Hawke, the Prime Minister of Australia Tom Burke as Dazzle Jennings, a friend and confidant of Princess Margaret Nicholas Farrell as Michael Shea, the Queen's press secretary Claire Foy as young Princess Elizabeth, in 1947
Recurring
Angus Imrie as Prince Edward, Elizabeth and Philip's youngest child Tom Byrne as Prince Andrew, Elizabeth and Philip's third child Freddie Fox as Mark Thatcher, son of Margaret Thatcher Rebecca Humphries as Carol Thatcher, daughter of Margaret Thatcher Charles Edwards as Lord Charteris of Amisfield, Private Secretary to the Queen Richard Goulding as Edward Adeane, Private Secretary to the Prince of Wales, and son of former private secretary to the Queen Lord Adeane Penny Downie as Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, Elizabeth's paternal aunt by marriage and widow of Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester Sam Phillips as the Queen's equerry Letty Thomas as Virginia Pitman, one of Diana's flatmates Allegra Marland as Carolyn Pride, one of Diana's flatmates Flora Higgins as Anne Bolton, one of Diana's flatmates Geoffrey Breton as Mark Phillips, Princess Anne's husband Kevin McNally as Bernard Ingham, Downing Street Press Secretary Paul Jesson as Sir Geoffrey Howe, Chancellor of the Exchequer; later Foreign Secretary, Leader of the House of Commons and Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Nicholas Day as Jim Prior, Secretary of State for Employment Richard Syms as Lord Hailsham, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain Peter Pacey as Lord Soames, Leader of the House of Lords (and Sir Winston Churchill's son-in-law) Paul Bigley as John Nott, Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Don Gallagher as Willie Whitelaw, Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Guy Siner as Francis Pym, Secretary of State for Defence Georgie Glen as Ruth Roche, Baroness Fermoy, the Queen Mother's lady-in-waiting and Diana's maternal grandmother Dugald Bruce Lockhart as John Moore, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Judith Paris as Wendy Mitchell, Lady Diana's dance teacher Dominic Rowan as Charles Powell, Private Secretary for Foreign Affairs to the Prime Minister Andrew Buchan as Andrew Parker Bowles, Camilla's husband Tony Jayawardena as Sir Shridath Ramphal, Commonwealth Secretary-General Alana Ramsey as Sarah Lindsay, a Buckingham Palace press officer and wife of Major Hugh Lindsay Jessica Aquilina as Sarah Ferguson, fiancée and later wife of Andrew Tom Turner as Patrick Jephson, Diana's private secretary David Phelan as Dickie Arbiter, Press Secretary to the Queen Lucas Barber-Grant as Prince William of Wales, Charles and Diana's elder son Arran Tinker as Prince Harry of Wales, Charles and Diana's younger son Daniel Fraser as the Queen's equerry
Notable guests
Isobel Eadie as Lady Sarah Spencer / Lady Sarah McCorquodale, Lady Diana's elder sister Harriet Benson as Lady Brabourne, daughter of Lord Mountbatten Valerie Sarruf as The Dowager Lady Brabourne, Lord Brabourne's mother Brandon Whitt as Timothy Knatchbull, Lord Mountbatten's grandson Evan Whitt as Nicholas Knatchbull, Lord Mountbatten's grandson Mark Carlisle as Lord Brabourne, Lord Mountbatten's son-in-law Patrick McBrearty as Francis McGirl, Member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army who murdered Lord Mountbatten Mark Brennan as Thomas McMahon, Member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army who murdered Lord Mountbatten Roy Sampson as Laurens van der Post, close friend of Prince Charles Billy Mack as Ghillie Karina Orr as Anne-Charlotte Verney, French rally driver Pierre Philippe as Jean Garnier Oscar Foronda as Constantino Davidoff, Argentine businessman Douglas Reith as Admiral Henry Leach, First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff Leanne Everitt as Christine Fagan, Michael Fagan's wife Elliott Hughes and Jasper Hughes as the infant Prince William of Wales Adam Fitzgerald as Graham Evans Naomi Allisstone as Hazel Hawke, Prime Minister Bob Hawke's wife Harry Treadaway as Roddy Llewellyn, Princess Margaret's former lover Nancy Carroll as Lady Glenconner, Princess Margaret's lady-in-waiting Richard Teverson as Lord Glenconner, husband of Lady Glenconner Gemma Jones as Penelope Carter, Princess Margaret's therapist Trudie Emery as Katherine Bowes-Lyon, Elizabeth and Margaret's first cousin, niece of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Pauline Hendrickson as Nerissa Bowes-Lyon, Elizabeth and Margaret's first cousin, niece of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Eva Feiler as young Margaret Thatcher Tom Espiner as Simon Freeman, a Sunday Times reporter Peter Symonds as Hardy Amies, Royal Warrant holder as designer to the Queen Jay Webb as Wayne Sleep, Dancer who performed Uptown Girl at Prince Charles 37th birthday Daniel Donskoy as James Hewitt, Princess Diana's lover Lin Sagovsky as Elspeth Howe, Geoffrey Howe's wife, who is Camilla's aunt Annette Badland as Dr Margaret Heagarty, director of paediatrics at Harlem Hospital Nadia Williams as Veronica Middleton-Jeter, a social worker at Henry Street Settlement Ailema Sousa as Linda Correa, a homeless mother of three Nick Wymer as Kenneth Clarke, Secretary of State for Health; later Secretary of State for Education Al Barclay as Michael Howard, Secretary of State for Employment Keith Chopping as Norman Lamont, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Martin Fisher as Peter Lilley, Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Marc Ozall as John Major, Foreign Secretary; later Chancellor of the Exchequer and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Duncan Duff as Cecil Parkinson, Secretary of State for Transport Oliver Milburn as Chris Patten, Secretary of State for the Environment; later Chairman of the Conservative Party Michael Mears as Malcolm Rifkind, Secretary of State for Scotland Stephen Greif as Bernard Weatherill, Speaker of the House of Commons
Episodes
Production Development By October 2017, "early production" had begun on an anticipated third and fourth season, and by the following January, Netflix confirmed the series had been renewed for a third and fourth season.
Casting The producers recast some roles with older actors every two seasons, as the characters age. In October 2017, Olivia Colman was cast as Queen Elizabeth II for the third and fourth seasons. By January 2018, Helena Bonham Carter and Paul Bettany were in negotiations to portray Princess Margaret and Prince Philip, respectively, for these seasons. However, by the end of the month Bettany was forced to drop out due to the time commitment required. By the end of March 2018, Tobias Menzies was cast as Philip for the third and fourth seasons. In early May 2018, Bonham Carter was confirmed to have been cast. The next month, Erin Doherty was cast as Princess Anne. A month later, Josh O'Connor and Marion Bailey were cast as Prince Charles and the Queen Mother, respectively, for the third and fourth seasons. In October 2018, Emerald Fennell was cast as Camilla Shand. In December 2018, Charles Dance was cast as Louis Mountbatten. In April 2019, Emma Corrin was cast as Lady Diana Spencer for the fourth season. In September 2019 Gillian Anderson, who had been rumoured since that January to be in talks to portray Margaret Thatcher in the fourth season, was officially confirmed for the role.
Filming The fourth season began filming in August 2019 and completed in March 2020. The producers confirmed that filming was completed ahead of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown; the release date was not delayed.
Music
Release Season 4 was released on Netflix on 15 November 2020. It was later released on DVD and Blu-ray on 2 November 2021.
Reception Season 4 of The Crown received universal acclaim from critics upon release. Rotten Tomatoes reported a 96% approval rating for the season based on 113 reviews, with an average rating of 8.60/10. The critical consensus reads: "Whatever historical liberties The Crown takes are easily forgiven thanks to the sheer power of its performances—particularly Anderson's imposing take on The Iron Lady and newcomer Corrin's embodiment of a young Princess Diana." On Metacritic, the season holds a score of 86 out of 100 based on 28 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".