No British monarch has ruled longer than Queen Elizabeth II. Since its premiere in 2016, The Crown has chronicled her life and the lives of those around her — and the political and personal events that shaped her reign. Peter Morgan’s groundbreaking series came to an end in 2023, but the show continues to be as historic as its subject’s legacy, landing 18 Emmy nominations for the sixth and final season. Find out how many of those awards the series takes home when the 76th Emmy Awards play out on Sunday, Sept. 15.

The historical drama is the first global Netflix original show to be produced and filmed in the UK, streaming a total of 60 episodes across six seasons — each taking around eight months to film. When creator Morgan and executive producers Andy Harries and Stephen Daldry first visited the Netflix team in Los Angeles in 2014, they were commissioned to write the first two seasons of The Crown. “I’m proud of having got to the end and having done what I said I would do,” Morgan told Netflix. “It’s also really satisfying to look at it as a whole and realizing how far we have all come. I loved it. I gave everything to it, I don’t think I left anything on the table.”

Executive producer Suzanne Mackie tells Tudum, “Everyone involved in this from every department has brought their best work to the show, and I think it shows. There’s huge collective pride.” Although The Crown follows only one monarch, it’s proven to be about much more than Elizabeth (played by Claire Foy, Olivia Colman and Imelda Staunton over 6 seasons) herself. The series has employed thousands of actors and crew members and won multiple awards. Bid farewell to The Crown with a staggering look at all the things you never knew about the production.

The Wikipedia page for the Aberfan disaster — the 1966 Welsh mining tragedy that killed 144 people, including 116 children — averaged around 1,500 visitors a day before The Crown Season 3, Episode 3, but has since been viewed 2.1 million times, including a peak of 266,000 on the day after the episode premiered.

Lord Mountbatten’s Wikipedia page jumped from 6,300 daily views to a peak of 118,000, exceeding 1.6 million visits. Portrayed by Charles Dance in the show, Lord Mountbatten is Prince Philip’s uncle whose involvement in a proposed coup against Prime Minister Harold Wilson (Jason Watkins) was the subject of Season 3, Episode 5.

In Season 3, Episode 1, the queen (Colman) discovers that her art adviser Anthony Blunt (Samuel West) is a Soviet spy. After the episode aired, traffic to Blunt’s Wikipedia page jumped from 1,544 clicks a day to 195,000 in 24 hours. Since Season 3’s premiere in 2019, his page has been visited by nearly 900,000 people.

More than 280,000 people clicked on Princess Margaret’s Wikipedia page on Nov. 18, 2019, the day after Season 3 was released.

There have been a total of 45,816 extras in all six seasons.

Season 6 involved 6,500 costume fittings for extras.

Throughout six seasons, there were a total of 3,249 military uniform fittings.

The model of Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral involved 3,000 miniature soldiers, with models of Buckingham Palace and Admiralty Arch at each end. Some of the crew had to be scanned in costume and miniaturized in 3D printing and then hand-painted. 

The Crown has employed a total of 2,584 crew members.

There have been around 2,000 sets for the entire series.

The series has spent at least 1,400 days filming across all six seasons. 

A total of 1,112 medals have been used on uniforms in the show.

Throughout six seasons, 1,063 scripts have been issued.

Since Season 1, it’s estimated that an excess of 800 outfits have been made by The Crown’s in-house dress-making team.

A total of 719 filming locations were used over the course of the series, including more than 110 locations per season. Season 3 was filmed at 130 different sites. The most returned-to location was Wilton House, which was used to film portions of Buckingham Palace. 

Out of every costume used in the series, Diana’s (played by Emma Corrin) wedding dress took the longest to make, unsurprisingly. Production of the dress spanned four months, 600 hours of labor, and required five fittings.

Now that’s quite a wardrobe: Over six seasons, the actors playing Elizabeth have collectively worn more than 500 costumes, including 20 wigs. 

More than 200 principal cast members have been featured in each season.

The Crown received 87 Emmy nominations over the course of its six seasons, with 21 wins so far. In 2021, the series became the first drama to sweep all seven major categories at the Emmys. The Crown has garnered 27 British Academy Film Award (BAFTA) nominations since its premiere. The series has been nominated for 23 Golden Globes over six seasons, winning seven of those awards. 

There have been 38 different incarnations of the royal family’s airplane over six seasons.

Since Season 1, the military uniforms of 27 different countries have been represented in The Crown.

Queen Elizabeth II was known for her love of corgis, and the success of The Crown has apparently contributed to their popularity. The Pembroke Welsh corgi is no longer listed as at risk by the Kennel Club. According to the international dog registry’s website, interest in corgis soared by 22% after Season 2 first aired.

In Season 5, Episode 6, Diana wears 17 original outfits during her Australian tour.

To capture the expanse and grandeur of Buckingham Palace, eight different locations were used, including Lancaster House (state rooms and the Queen’s office), Wilton House (the ballroom and formal dining room), Wrotham Park (the Audience room), Elstree Studios (the family’s private quarters and offices), and a back lot (the Buckingham Palace gates and exterior).

The Crown was filmed in seven countries over the course of its six seasons, including England, Wales, Scotland, France, Spain, Hungary, and South Africa.

One of the most difficult costumes to design and produce was the replica of Queen Elizabeth II’s wedding dress. The bodice alone took one person three weeks to embroider, and then the other panels were completed in stages by multiple teams. The train alone took six people nearly seven weeks to embroider.

Five different actors have portrayed Queen Elizabeth II at different stages of her life, including Verity Russell, Viola Prettejohn, Claire Foy, Olivia Colman, and Imelda Staunton.

There’s no such thing as a small role in The Crown. Throughout the series, a royal rodent makes three cameos. In Season 1, Episode 1, a mouse is seen in the Buckingham Palace kitchen, while another scurries across the floor in front of the queen mother in Season 4, Episode 3. A third one makes an appearance in Season 6, Episode 1 as Charles (Dominic West) pays his mother a visit, hoping to convince her to attend Camilla’s (Olivia Williams) birthday.

An antique barometer is the only prop on set that’s never been moved since Season 1.

Princess Margaret’s wedding dress was made without a single fitting — and it fit actor Vanessa Kirby perfectly. 

The Crown Season 6, Part 2 is now streaming on Netflix.