This story reveals the political rivalries and romance behind Queen Elizabeth II’s reign and the events that shaped the 2nd half of the 20th century.
On-set photos of Claire Foy filming The Crown can be found in our gallery.
Claire Foy finally receives The Crown as she and Matt Smith transform into Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip for the Netflix first-look trailer
With a series entitled The Crown, it’s only right that it should open with a coronation.
The first teaser trailer for the hotly-anticipated Netflix series shows Claire Foy’s Elizabeth II struggling to grasp her new role as Queen of England at the age of just 26.
And in spectacular style, it also features a royal wedding portraying the lead up to her coronation, which followed five years after her marriage to Prince Philip, who is played by Doctor Who actor Matt Smith.
The teaser introduces Elizabeth’s anxiety of her new-found power, asking if she can ‘borrow’ the crown to practise with it, following the sudden news that Edward VIII will abdicate.
‘It’s not as easy as it looks,’ she says, balancing the crown as she greets son and daughter Prince Charles and Princess Anne in her private dressing quarters. ‘Do you suppose I might borrow it for a few days, just to practise?’
Looking wholesome in her green cardigan and pearls, the 31-year-old actress is the spit of British monarch.
She’s not the only one who’s struggling to adjust in the storyline, because Elizabeth’s husband Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, is seen to ask Elizabeth if he can be excused the custom of kneeling before her at the coronation.
At first, the trailer sees Philip trying to welcome Elizabeth as the next in line to the throne, saying that she should be granted a ‘befitting coronation’.
Addressing the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, he instructs: ‘We have a new sovereign, young and a woman, let us give her a coronation that it is befitting with the wind of change that she represents. Modern and forward-looking.’
Doctor Who actor Matt seems to have nailed the longest-serving consort’s distinctive mannerisms and plays a convincing Philip.
His character is later seen giving Elizabeth advice on how to deal with Churchill (played by John Lithgow) as the fine balance between the monarchy and the government is called into question.
But her reign doesn’t seem to sit well with the Duke and cracks begin to appear in their marriage as the trailer builds up to the coronation.
He says to her: ‘You’ve taken my career from me, you’ve taken my home, you’ve taken my name. What kind of marriage is this? What kind of family?’ adding: ‘Are you my wife or my queen? I want to be married to my wife.’
Enforcing her power, the monarch quickly retorts: ‘I am both and a strong man would be able to kneel to both.’
The drama builds to a climax with her stern expression as she watches him kneel before her at the coronation.
