How Queen Elizabeth's Death Was Addressed in The Crown's Final Episode

After six seasons, The Crown came to an emotional conclusion. In the series finale, creator Peter Morgan's acclaimed historical Netflix drama about the royal family ended with a nod to Queen Elizabeth's death and funeral — despite wrapping its timeline nearly two decades before the monarch's death.

Queen Elizabeth died at age 96, after 70 years and 214 days on the throne.

During the series finale — "Sleep, Dearie Sleep," which was written by Morgan and directed by Stephen Daldry, who helmed the pilot and other episodes — Queen Elizabeth (played by Imelda Staunton) is seen planning her own funeral proceedings throughout the year 2005 as she also contemplates stepping down amid decisions to approve the marriage of Prince Charles (Dominic West) and Camilla Parker Bowles (Olivia Williams) and news of Prince Harry's (Luther Ford) costume scandal. 

The episode opens with the Queen attending an Operation London Bridge meeting, which was the codename for the planning operations for her death first created in the 1960s and revised several times throughout her life. There, she is seen getting emotional as she overlooks a model of The Mall with military figurines depicting what her funeral day will look like. 

"The talk of my funeral has stirred things up a bit," she later tells Prince Philip (Jonathan Pryce) before going to bed.

The next morning, the Queen calls upon her bagpiper, "Pipes," to ask if he has any suggestions for "the music," particularly "if there was a tune for the pipes [he] thought might work." Upon her request, he suggests the traditional tune, "Sleep, Dearie Sleep," which he then plays for her. She, as well as her staff, are then seen getting emotional as they reflect on the poignancy of the music. 

Later in the finale, the Queen appears in a project room, where she watches footage from throughout her life, including actual footage of King George's funeral and a photo of the Vigil of the Princes, which appears to show the iconic image of the three Queens of England — Queen Mary (the Queen Consort of King George V and the mother of George VI), Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother (the Queen Consort of King George VI and the mother of Queen Elizabeth) and Queen Elizabeth — united in grief. 

Afterward, Queen Elizabeth visits her stables, where she sees a vision of her younger self (with Olivia Colman reprising her role from seasons 3 and 4). The vision points out that she could abdicate the throne, saying, "You're almost 80 years old. No need to go on."  

From then on, there are rumors around the palace that Queen Elizabeth may step down, with her announcement to be made during Charles and Camilla's wedding. 

However, while writing her reception speech, the Queen has another vision of herself — this time with Claire Foy reprising the youngest version of the character from seasons 1 and 2. During this moment, the Queen is reminded that she took an oath to be the monarch for life. And when she wonders about "the woman [she] put aside" all those years ago, Foy's character says, "Elizabeth Windsor is gone. You buried her years ago."

After she makes her speech during Charles and Camilla's reception, Prince Philip praises her remarks and alludes that he's proud she didn't step down. He then urges her to be the Queen for as long as she can "because those that come after you are not remotely ready to take over." 

As the two mull the future of the monarchy, they both reveal they've looked at each other's funeral plans. That's when Prince Philip says, "I'll leave you to it," and the Queen is left standing by herself as her funeral song begins to play.

As the final episode comes to an end, Queen Elizabeth sees her coffin with the royal standard, regalia and flowers just like it happened in real life, in September 2022. As she takes the moment in, all three portrayals of the Queen — with Foy and Colman once again returning onscreen — are seen standing together before Staunton's character walks away.  

The Crown's emotional conclusion — with reference to the events of September 2022 — came about when Queen Elizabeth died at age 96, during production on season 6. 

Initially, the decision had been made to end the series in 2005, which it still does, but Morgan revealed to Variety that he was compelled to change direction as a result of her death.

"We'd all been through the experience of the funeral,” he said, referring to the services that took place on Sept. 19, 2022. “So because of how deeply everybody will have felt that, I had to try and find a way in which the final episode dealt with the character’s death, even though she hadn’t died yet.”

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At the time of the Queen's death, production on the final episodes was temporarily shut down. "The Crown is a love letter to [the Queen] and I've nothing to add for now, just silence and respect, I expect we will stop filming out of respect too," Morgan said in a statement at the time. Production on the Netflix series was also suspended on the day of her funeral.

While not seen on the show, the Queen's coffin was taken to Westminster Hall for the Queen's lying in state, during which people will be able to pay their respects as they pass by the coffin.

Following this period, the official state funeral took place Monday, Sept. 19 at Westminster Abbey and was then followed by a procession to The Mall before a committal service in St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle.

The Crown seasons 1 to 6 are now streaming on Netflix.