How do you know Peter Morgan is really done with The Crown? The series is auctioning off more than 450 of the most recognizable costumes, furniture, and props this week, from the recreation of Diana’s Revenge Dress to a reproduction of the Gold State Coach.

The London-based international auction house Bonhams has been charged with pulling this off. For weeks now, many of the items have been on public display to generate excitement. On Wednesday, the fun really begins with the live auction of more than 150 of the biggest pieces (proceeds of which will be used to form a new scholarship in association with the National Film and Television School). The following day, the on-going online auction will wrap up.  

When I tell you this assortment is a sight to behold! A quick flip-through of the auction catalog — you can find it here — and the imagination runs wild. What would you do with a sofa from the set of the queen’s audience room or the recreated gates of Buckingham Palace? Some of the lots I find most delightful are pieces grouped together. There is a vintage picnic basket with a flask and two steel sandwich boxes as well as Prince Philip’s fictional pedestal desk with all its trinkets, including a magnifying glass, an ink well, and sword-shaped letter opener.

But it is the costumes up for grabs that make me really swoon. From a replica of Princess Margaret’s wedding dress, tiara, and veil to a recreation of Princess Diana’s engagement photo call suit, the clothing and accessories being sold are simply beyond.

To find out more, I talked with Meg Randell, head of designer handbags and fashion for Bonhams. She has been working on this sale for over a year now, selecting and preparing more than 200 of the items to be auctioned off. It was such fun to hear from Randell on what it was like to dive into The Crown’s archives, why the series went to such great lengths create this world, and what she expects the winning bidders to do with their pieces (hint: she hopes they will wear them!).

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👑 ICYMI: You can find all of my coverage of the final season of The Crown here, including my watch-with-me podcast. Have a listen if you haven’t already!

Inside ’The Crown’ Mega Auction with Bonhams’ Meg Randell

I would love to first understand whether this sort of auction, selling off pieces from a beloved television show, is a common occurrence? 

Meg Randell: It is really unusual. I don’t think Bonhams has done a sale quite like this before. The Crown is this really important part of British history, but also global history. It is so beloved worldwide. There aren’t many shows that you could dedicate an entire auction to and get a response like we have. 

A lot of the time, a series ends and then all the things that you’ve created will just disappear. They will get broken up, they will be sold, or they are thrown away. To actually keep all the highlights from it together, to create an exhibition, and give it a second life has been really special. 

What feels so unique about The Crown is how they went to such lengths to recreate these pieces of history exactly.

When you watch the series, it’s so good that you forget that it’s created. It just feels like it exists and you are watching it. And that’s why I think it’s so nice to have this opportunity to have this public exhibition, to show that actually everything is created — every scene that you see, the chairs, the table, the photo frames, all the outfits. People can’t believe how much detail and how beautiful the clothes are in real life. 

A lot of it doesn’t have to be as good as it is. It would look okay on the screen if it was only half embroidered or all printed to look like something. But actually lots of it is hand embroidered. It’s mostly haute couture clothes inspired by what the royals actually wore. 

In the exhibition, you recognize it from the screen, but then you’re like, “I also remember the real Diana wearing this, and I remember the real Margaret wearing it.” Everything is really familiar and really spectacular.

When, and how, did you start selecting the pieces that are in the auction?

I started working on this project almost a year ago — it’s been in discussions for much longer than that. Me and the other group of specialists went to Elstree Studios, which is north of London, and we were just shown everything. It took a week to look at!  Warehouses full of stuff, including rails and rails and rails of clothes. There were warehouses of furniture that had been bought or made. There was a room that was pretty much entirely lamp covers! It was the most bonkers thing I’ve ever seen.

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It’s been about a week since the final episodes of The Crown dropped and I still have so many thoughts! In this podcast, I discuss how this Season 6 fits into the bigger picture of the show and what Peter Morgan was ultimately trying to tell us.

I also share some of the many voice memos I received from all of you! All season long, I’ve been asking people…

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We’ve come to the end of The Crown. What did you think about this finale? Is this how you imagined it would go? I’ll admit, I was emotional saying goodbye to the characters and the show itself but was left quite frustrated by one theme and one important scene…

In this episode, we see William and Harry head to a problematic costume party then begrudgingly…

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The second-to-last episode of The Crown takes its name from the street where Will and Kate lived at St. Andrews — and it shows us how the two got there! In Episode 9, the pair move from friends to something more following that (now famous) fashion show. The Crown’s depiction of Kate owning the catwalk in a sheer, strapless dress is not exactly how I env…

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With The Crown coming to an end, I knew we’d be saying goodbye to these characters we have come to love over the last six seasons. But still! This episode is a rough one. It was so sad to see Princess Margaret fade away, but also to see Queen Elizabeth cope with the loss of her beloved younger sister.

The episode keeps coming back to a flashback, a night…

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After so much anticipation, Meg Bellamy has entered The Crown chat as Kate Middleton. Creator Peter Morgan has given her the upper hand in his depiction, making some decided choices about her character (and her mother…!). Bellamy’s Kate is the pursued and not the pursuer. And Ed McVey’s Prince William is smitten.

It was nice to have a lighter, happier ep…

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Finally, the focus is back to the queen! The second episode of Season 6, Part 2 of The Crown finds the sovereign struggling a bit. She faces both the increasing popularity of prime minister Tony Blair and the decreasing popularity of the royal family. Through an examination of royal odd jobs, the series poses a bit of an existential question: What is th…

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The Crown is back, and so is my watch-with-me podcast. Part 2 of season 6 begins with an episode that says it all, “Willsmania.” With Ed McVey stepping into the shoes of the heir, we see him face two very different emotional challenges: grieving the loss of his mother while grappling with his new heartthrob status. 

In this podcast, I check in with all t…

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Here. We. Go! The final six episodes of Netflix’s award-winning series, The Crown, arrive tomorrow. Creator Peter Morgan has taken us on quite a journey these last seven years, hasn’t he? The show began with then-Princess Elizabeth’s wedding in 1947 and will end nearly six decades later, around the wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles in 2005.

What will these last episodes include? For some predictions, I turned , the best-selling author who is extremely well-versed on this stretch in royal history. Her many books include a pair of must-read royal biographies, 2012’s Elizabeth the Queen: The Life of a Modern Monarch and 2017’s Prince Charles: The Passion and the Paradoxes of an Improbable Life . SMT readers may also recall our conversation from earlier this year about her latest book, George VI and Elizabeth: The Marriage that Saved the Monarchy. Bedell Smith has joined Substack now, too! Check out , where she offers insightful and deeply informed looks at important moments in royal history.

In our chat, Bedell Smith summarized what major royal moments from these eight years we could see, including the deaths of Princess Margaret and the Queen Mum, as well as why Queen Elizabeth II was photographed at McDonald’s and what Joan Rivers had to say about Charles and Camilla’s wedding. She also shared her thoughts on the long-term impact of The Crown’s dramatization and how the series may come to a close. (No spoilers here! We talked after the release of Part 1 but before Bedell Smith watched Part 2.)

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But first! For more on Will and Kate’s origin story this season — or rather, The Crown’s spin on the earliest days of their courtship — check out my Town & Country digital cover here. I sat down with actors Ed McVey and Meg Bellamy, who shared where they were before The Crown and what they learned from these royal roles.

🎧 SMT x The Crown Podcast

If you haven’t had a chance to listen yet, now is the time! My Substack-exclusive podcast, So Many Thoughts on The Crown, is a one-stop shop for the final season. Along with a preview of Part 1 and Part 2, I have done episode-by-episode recaps complete with my reactions, reflections, and some fact-checking of the major storylines. I’ll be rolling out my Part 2 takes this week.

PS: The podcast is available to paid subscribers only. I’m running a Crown special this week — get 20% annual subscriptions! You’ll also get access to our discussion threads and the comment section. More details below.

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’The Crown’ Final Season Primer with Sally Bedell Smith

Please note: This conversation has been edited and condensed.

Sally, it’s so nice to chat again. Before we get into Part 2, I want to rewind to Part 1. What did you make of the first half of Season 6 and how Diana’s death was handled? 

Sally Bedell Smith: As has been the case throughout the series, but probably wasn’t as noticeable at the beginning, you have very strong lines of fact and fiction intermingling.

It was odd to have four episodes devoted to this very brief period of time. I think it unnecessarily distorted it. It wasn’t even eight weeks; the actual romance was less than a month. Everybody who was around then knew what was playing out in the tabloids. [Peter Morgan] sort of went overboard by inventing various things, like Camilla’s 50th birthday party right off the bat. That birthday party obviously happened, but including Princess Margaret in it and having her call the queen and tell her that she should be nicer to Camilla — it was absolutely nothing like what actually happened. [EH note: For Bedell Smith’s full fact check of Part 1, check out her spread in The Times here.]

I would like to take a bit step back and get your thoughts on what Peter Morgan has done here. As somebody steeped in this world, I’m curious what you make of The Crown and the effect it has had on the real-life Windsors. 

[The Crown] has spent so much time and money devoted to the visual details of the production that it imprints on people that this actually happened. People will come away from this with a take on royal history — going back all the way to the 1950s — with a view that is often at odds with what really happened.

That’s dispiriting for people like me, who try to get the facts, who try to write the history with good, solid sourcing, who do try to get it right.

I have maintained for a while that I think they could have clarified what they were doing and guided the viewer by putting a disclaimer at the beginning, which they sort of stuck into Season 5. I didn’t see it in Season 6. It would have put viewers on notice that they really should not take this as having happened; some of it did and some of it didn’t. 

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You have worked with Peter Morgan on earlier projects, is that right? What was that like? 

I was a consultant on a TV movie about [President Bill] Clinton and [Prime Minister Tony] Blair called The Special Relationship [written by Peter Morgan] and then on The Audience, his stage play with Helen Mirren. With a stage play, the audience is required to suspend disbelief. You know that what you’re watching has been made up. It’s a very different viewing experience. 

I was very impressed with [Morgan]. He is a brilliant man and a wonderful writer. I had written my book about the queen by then, and he relied on me to talk about what would be in-character for this situation. I was very comfortable with that. 

But then The Crown did something very different, which was to have the most extraordinary production values and these incredible actors. It became something that didn’t require you to suspend disbelief. It required you to be pulled in and to believe everything you were seeing. 

Has the believability changed as the series progressed?

At the beginning, all the players were so dazzling and so beautiful. Most people [watching] weren’t around then and I think people got carried away and said, “Well, yes, this must have happened.” But of course, there were plenty of fictitious aspects in the early seasons. 

One of the more disturbing things that they did was the incident where Phillip’s sister was killed in a plane crash. [On The Crown] he was made to seem as if he was at fault because he had misbehaved in school and they had flown to London. Nothing of the sort happened. They were flying to London to go to a family wedding. It was very, very cruel to him because he adored his sister.

There were more innocuous things, too, that were totally fictitious, like the London Fog episode where Churchill had a secretary who was hit by a bus and killed. I looked through any number of Churchill biographies — which we have many — and there was nothing.

There are a lot of these dramatic devices, for better or for worse, that convey things that Peter Morgan wanted to present, wanted to highlight. 

Let’s talk about what actually happened in the years Season 6, Part 2 will cover, from 1997 to 2005. I would like to focus on the monarch and her heir. What did Elizabeth II’s reign look like at this time?

She was obviously dealing with the aftermath of Diana’s death, really trying to figure out: What are the lessons learned? They had polling and brought in communications directors, very different sorts of people from those who had run the Buckingham Palace Press office before. They were polished public relations professionals, determined to — not erode the magic — but present the queen in a more accessible way. 

The queen incrementally adjusted. She put herself in situations where she was shown to be a little more demonstrative. Not necessarily talking about her feelings, but instead of viewing things from a distance, she would go into a classroom and sit down and talk to the children. They went overboard once, where she drove up to a McDonald’s in her Bentley, which may end up in The Crown. 

Other events we could see: November of 1997 was Elizabeth and Philip’s golden wedding anniversary. In 1999, Prince Edward married Sophie. The Crown has already dealt with the decommissioning of the Britannia, but that actually occurred after Diana’s death.

One thing that was hanging over the queen from 1998 to 2002 was the decline of her sister and her aging mother. This was an extraordinary year, 2002, because it was the queen’s Golden Jubilee, marking 50 years on the throne. She was 76, older than Charles is now. First, she loses her sister in February. Six weeks later, she loses her mother at the age of 101.

She went to Westminster Hall for the lying-in-state of her mother. On the way back something very unusual happened. The crowd began to clap for her. It was an emotional turning point for the queen—and for the people. She had now become not only admired, but beloved. Her mother, the Queen Mum, had always been the grandmother of the nation, the beloved one. And now it was the queen.

It will be interesting to see how, or if, The Crown does that, because it was a crucial moment. 

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Let’s turn to Charles and Camilla. A lot happened in their relationship in the years The Crown is about to cover. Where do you think we will find Charles after Diana’s death?

Initially, he and the boys retreated to Highgrove. Camilla, needless to say, absolutely disappeared. In a few weeks, Charles had an event in Manchester, and he spoke with some emotions about what had happened, which I think was good for him. Then he went with Harry to South Africa — I can’t remember in Spare, Harry may have a different view of it — but [the trip] was viewed as evidence that Charles was taking fatherhood seriously.

All along, insofar as Charles was concerned, they resumed Operation PB, which was the rehabilitation of Camilla Parker Bowles. Camilla was still very much behind the scenes. In 1998, she started to appear at private events that Charles hosted. That summer, she was introduced to William and then later to Harry. There was a kerfuffle over the story leaking, but there was movement forward. The first visible evidence of that was Charles’s 50th birthday party at Highgrove, which, in fact, Princess Margaret did attend, as did William and Harry. 

What do you think we will see of their relationship becoming public?

Fast forward to January of 1999, there was a very well-orchestrated appearance of Camilla and Charles coming out of the Ritz Hotel. It was so meticulously planned: They would walk out and there would be photographs. Up until then, they had been ducking around trying to avoid being photographed because they knew that whoever photographed them together would get a huge payoff. They wanted to normalize being together.

I don’t think The Crown will show this, but I wrote in my book about a fascinating trial balloon for Camilla when she went to New York. She had her coming out there, went to the theater and was hosted at a lunch. [EH note: Bedell Smith also wrote about this on her Substack, , in a fascinating post you can find here.]

One thing I think they will have to include is what happened in June of 2000, when Camilla was reintroduced to the queen — reintroduced, because she had met her years earlier — at a barbecue for Charles’s cousin, King Constantine, the former king of Greece. It was an important moment. As somebody said, “A cracking of the ice.” It wasn’t full acceptance; she was not ready to embrace Camilla. But she was willing to acknowledge her. 

We know that we will see their 2005 wedding in some capacity. Any predictions on how it will be handled?

It’s hard to imagine that they could portray it in any kind of a downbeat way because it was a moment of triumph, really, for Charles and Camilla. It took a lot of maneuvering with the church, figuring out how they could do it and what was permitted constitutionally, what was permitted by the Church of England.  They came up with a compromise — it was really quite elegant — that they would have the small ceremony in the Windsor Town Hall and then they would have this much larger service in St. George’s Chapel.

I remember talking to Joan Rivers, of all people, she was there and she said, “I go to so many weddings and there’s all kinds of backbiting and criticism. Everybody was happy!”

And the queen gave that wonderful speech, comparing Charles and Camilla to overcoming the hurdles at the Grand National, which was just kind of perfect. She ended it by saying, “My son is home and dry with the woman he loves.”

If [The Crown] ends on that note, it won’t necessarily negate the various calumnies and mischaracterizations and inventions threaded through the previous seasons, but at least it will lead viewers with a good feeling. And I think that’s probably important for the series.

My thanks to ! Make sure to check out her Substack, for delightful deep dives into royal history.

💭 Any predictions for Season 6, Part 2? Share them in the comments of this newsletter!

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🗣️ Keep me posted on your Crown thoughts as you dive in this week. Record a voice memo on your phone with your reaction, reflections and questions. Then email it to me at Hello@SoManyThoughts.com. Make sure to include your name and where you are from — I might just include it in a future podcast…!

🎁 If you still have a lot of holiday shopping to do (I know I do!), check out the 2023 So Many Thoughts Gift Guide. There are three parts: Things I love, things you all love (a spreadsheet of choices!), and things small businesses from the SMT community love to make.

The end is here! Or rather, almost here. Netflix is set to release the final six episodes of The Crown on Thursday, one last look at the Windsors during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II. To prepare us all, I put together a primer podcast, looking at what actually happened in the late ‘90s and early 2000s. This was not the most exciting time …

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Welcome to Crown week Part 2 here at So Many Thoughts! I can’t believe the remaining six episodes of the final season are just a few days away, arriving on Netflix Dec. 14. I have loads of coverage planned here on Substack, including my SMT x The Crown podcast exclusively for paid subscribers. This has been such fun, reacting, reflecting, and fact-checking each episode — I love this new way to talk through all of The Crown’s choices with you. If you’ve been curious, here’s a little nudge in the form of a special Crown discount (this week only!). Join us, won’t you?

20% Off Paid Subscription

To kick things off, I wanted to share my digital cover story for Town & Country with Ed McVey and Meg Bellamy, the actors who play Will and Kate. I love how The Crown plucks people from the most unexpected places (Bellamy was working at Legoland as a red brick) and puts them on these elaborate sets (McVey told me they hired a choir for some of his scenes because the girls could scream louder and longer). Watching these two newcomers interact, first on the red carpet at the premiere in Los Angeles and later for our interviews, was such a trip, too. 

But mostly, writing this story gave me the chance to really think through Crown creator Peter Morgan’s portrayal of this very familiar, but famously reserved couple. The series comes to a close at a not particularly exciting stretch in royal history, with an aging queen mourning the deaths of her sister and mother. It’s on Will and Kate to bring the romance and the drama. How do Bellamy and McVey make the story of their courtship — one we all know the ending to — the least bit tantalizing? 

Click to read: The Crown’s Final Chapter: Will, Kate, and the Fate of the Firm

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This was my third Crown cover for Town & Country — how illuminating it has been to write these pieces! The casting department’s superpower is finding people who not only look like the real royal they are portraying but embody them, too. The research department also preps them with all kinds of background information for these imagined depictions. At each of my interviews, I have been amazed at how the actors speak about their characters with such empathy and interest. Below, for your Crown prep pleasure, are my earlier pieces.

First up, my 2020 chats with Josh O’Connor, Emma Corrin and Emerald Fennell, who play Charles, Diana, and Camilla, respectively, in Season 4. These three made me appreciate what Morgan and the team at The Crown have created in a new way —to begin to really consider the choices made in these portrayals. In Morgan’s retelling, this well-known love triangle doesn’t have an obvious villain or victim; it’s a much more nuanced portrait of three hurt, trapped people.

Click to read: Charles. Di. Camilla: The Twists and Turns Inside The Crown

My 2022 conversation with Dominic West, who plays Charles in Seasons 5 and 6, came jut after the death of Queen Elizabeth II. At the time, criticism of The Crown was off the charts. So much pearl-clutching about these depictions and the alleged harm they caused the Windsors! My takeaway after chatting with West was that the new king was exceedingly lucky to have West in the role (which we have seen in this season, too).

Click to read: Charles in Charge: Dominic West, The King of The Crown

Many, many thanks to Adam Rathe, Stellene Volandes, and the entire Town & Country team for these assignments.

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Stay tuned! My first Crown podcast on Part 2, a look at what historical events we might see in these episodes, drops tomorrow.

👑 ICYMI, you can find all of my earlier Crown posts here, including the podcast (tap below and swipe for a preview). I hope you’ll join me for Part 2. x

PS: New subscribers, click here for 20% off your annual subscription.

We are just one week away from the arrival of Part 2 of the final season of The Crown. But first: YOUR thoughts on Part 1. All season long, I asked you to share your reactions and reflections. Thank you to everyone who took the time to send me a voice memo. There is something really special about the audio format; hearing your voices makes everything a …

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Before Part 2 of The Crown lands on Dec. 14, I want to sit with the first installment for a minute more. I have rewatched portions of these four episodes, combed through our SMT discussion threads (here and here), and talked with friends about what creator Peter Morgan chose to show.

Today I want to share one such conversation I had, with wr…

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In the Part 1 finale of The Crown Season 6, the world — and the Windsor family — begins to process Princess Diana’s death. So many of us remember moment in royal history with painful clarity: Where we were when we heard the tragic news, what it was like to watch the flowers pile up in front of Kensington Palace, and the heartbreaking scene of William an…

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The Crown has arrived at this inevitable, dreaded moment … the car crash that killed Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed. I went into this episode with so many questions: Did we really want to visit that horrific night? What exactly would The Crown show us? Would it place blame or point a finger at any person?

Part 1 Discussion Thread Ep 1 + 2

As I note in this podcast, recorded shortly after …

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It’s a war of the Waleses…in photographs. In the second episode of The Crown’s final season, we dive right into Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed’s romance. There has been so much speculation about this relationship over the years — and so much we’ll never know. The Crown paints an intimate picture of the two, before revealing the intense response from thei…

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