Princess Diana's last days to Kate Middleton: What will and won't be in The Crown season 6.

In 2016, the world revelled at the new historical TV drama series, The Crown. The Netflix original series, which was created and principally written by Peter Morgan, showed the exciting (but terrifying) early days of Queen Elizabeth II's reign. It was history splayed out for us in a spectularly made TV show. And we couldn't get enough. 

Although the series was meant to wrap up in season five, it was announced in July 2020 Morgan had ultimately changed his mind and a season six was green lighted.

"As we started to discuss the storylines for series five, it soon became clear that in order to do justice to the richness and complexity of the story we should go back to the original plan and do six seasons," he told Netflix in a statement. 

Watch the teaser trailer for The Crown season six. Post continues after video. 

Before we binge every single season in preparation for the new installment, here's everything we know about The Crown season six so far.

When is The Crown season six release date?

The first part of the six season of The Crown will premiere on Netflix on November 16. 

The second part of the season, which will show Prince William, Duchess Catherine and Prince Harry during their young adult years, will air December 14. 

Image: Netflix.

Who is The Crown season six cast?

Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth II.

Image: Getty.

Harry Potter actress Imelda Staunton will continue in her role as Queen Elizabeth after taking over Olivia Coleman in season five. 

Aside from playing Dolores Umbridge in Harry Potter, Staunton is known for her role as Lady Bagshawe in Downton Abbey and previously played the Queen Mother in the BBC series Cambridge Spies.

"I am genuinely honoured to be joining such an exceptional creative team and to be taking The Crown to its conclusion," Stanton said in a statement shared by Netflix back in 2022.

Elizabeth Debicki as Princess Diana.

Australia's very own Elizabeth Debicki will reprice her role as Princess Diana. She replaced Emma Corrin, in season five.

Debicki has starred in films The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Great Gatsby, Widows, and The Night Manager.

"Princess Diana's spirit, her words, and her actions live in the hearts of so many," Debicki said in a statement. 

"It is my true privilege and honour to be joining this masterful series, which had me absolutely hooked from episode one."

Image: Getty.

Dominic West as Prince Charles.

Dominic West has been playing the role of Prince Charles since season five, taking over from Josh O'Connor. 

The 53-year-old is best known for playing Jimmy McNulty in the American crime drama The Wire and Noah Solloway in The Affair.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly in October, West confessed he nearly didn't take the role.

"I said, 'You've got the wrong guy,'" West recalled. "'I don't look anything like him.'"

But he changed his mind, eventually.

"I thought about it for several weeks, and it was one of those things you can't really get out of your head," he said. 

"[I] realised that you've got to give it a go because you'll regret it if you don't. He's a fascinating man, Charles, and it's a fascinating life, and a fascinating role. 

"I mean, apart from anything else, it's a huge show, and I loved the first four seasons. I realised that I could very happily live with this character for two years."

Image: Getty.

Rufus Kampa as young Prince William. 

The 16-year-old actor, who played the leading role as a nerdy hero in the stage version of The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, has taken on the character of young Wills. 

"Rufus can’t wait to play Prince William and he’ll be playing him at an age when he was a pin-up for schoolgirls around the world, so it will be a very ­different role from what he’s used to," an insider told The Mirror earlier this year. 

"The school where he studied in a small village outside Aylesbury is also very ­different to the one where William went. Rufus attended a small state school with a real mix of pupils from all different backgrounds. 

"He’s playing the young William from his school days and another actor will play the uni years when he met Kate Middleton. They are both fantastic new actors."

Image: Getty/Netflix.

Ed McVey as teen Prince William.

McVey, along with Kampa, will be making his on-screen debut as an older Prince William. 

According to Harpers Bazaar, the 22-year-old studied acting at the Drama Centre London in 2021 and has starred in various plays such as Rosmerholm, Government Inspector, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and the Pains of Youth. 

Aside from having an incredible likeness to the real Wills, the actor was allegedly given the role because of his unique ability to speak with a "Queen's English" accent.

Image: Getty.

Meg Bellamy as Princess Catherine.

In season six of The Crown, we will not only get to see Prince William as a young man, we will also get to meet Kate Middleton as the series follows the pair in their early years of dating. 

Meg Bellamy will play the Duchess of Cambridge before she was ever a royal at all. 

This will be her first role ever according to reports which claim she was "plucked from obscurity" after she submitted a self-taped audition and was instantly given the job.

"Pinch me please... So excited to announce that I will be playing Kate Middleton in series six of Netflix’s The Crown. It is such an honour to be joining the most incredible cast and crew, and I will strive to do Kate justice," she wrote on Instagram. 

Image: Getty.

What storylines can we expect from The Crown season six?

Even though the show was renewed for a season six afterall, The Crown still won't be covering the present day meaning no Meghan Markle, the death of Queen Elizabeth II (or Prince Philip, for that matter) or even Prince Andrew who was one of several prominent figures to have allegedly participated in sexual activities with a minor later identified as Virginia Giuffre.

Here's everything that actually will be covered in the sixth and final season of The Crown.

The final days of Princess Diana's life and the aftermath. 

Debicki who plays Princess Diana said it was a "unique challenge" to "portray" the end days of the late royal. 

"I really just trusted in Peter [Morgan]'s emotional blueprint that he created for us to follow. It's his interpretation and I think it made emotional sense to me, so I clung to that. Because, obviously, it's devastating and it's fraught and we can never know," she told Town & Country.

We won't see the crash impact scene, a Netflix source told IndieWire in August 2023, as the makers behind the series apparently wanted to cover the event with "enermous sensitivity".

Image: Supplied.

"The show might be big and noisy, but we’re not. We’re thoughtful people and we’re sensitive people. There were very careful, long conversations about how we were going to do it," producer Suzanne Mackie told Deadline. 

"The audience will judge it in the end, but I think it’s been delicately, thoughtfully recreated. Elizabeth Debicki is an extraordinary actress and she was so thoughtful and considerate. She loved Diana. There’s a huge amount of respect from us all, I hope that’s evident."

Prince William and Duchess Catherine's early days at university. 

The meeting days of Prince William and his now-wife will play out on screen for us in The Crown. 

According to photos released so far, the season will put a focus point on when they first met in 2001 while they were both studying at St. Andrews University in Scotland. 

Image: Netflix.

"As The Crown enters a new decade, Prince William starts at University in St Andrew’s, determined to lead as normal a life as possible while he still can," Netflix said in a statement. 

"Also beginning life as a University student, is Kate Middleton from Berkshire. As the pair meet for the first time on campus, a new romance and a new future for The Crown begins."

Feature Image: Netflix.