‘The Crown’ maker announces halt in filming in respect of Queen Elizabeth’s demise

Peter Morgan said biographical drama was a ‘love letter’ to British Monarch that needs silence, respect at this time

Peter Morgan, the creator of the Netflix biographical drama on the life and reign of the late British Monarch Queen Elizabeth II, has announced to stop filming The Crown out of respect for the Queen. Mentioning that he does not know of a “right” time to stop mourning and begin filming again, the British screenwriter said he only has “silence and respect” to share right now.

Following the death of Queen Elizabeth on Thursday, in an email statement to Deadline, Morgan shared that the show would stop filming but did not specify for how long that would be. “The Crown is a love letter to her and I’ve nothing to add, for now, just silence and respect. I expect we will stop filming out of respect too,” his statement read.

Back in 2016, when The Crown was about to premiere, director Stephen Daldry in a conversation with the same publication shared that the creators did have a plan on how to deal with the monarch’s death. “None of us knows when that time will come but it would be right and proper to show respect to the Queen. It would be a simple tribute and a mark of respect. She’s a global figure and it’s what we should do,” said Daldry.

The Crown, featuring Claire Foy and Olivia Colman as the Queen over the first four seasons, will now see Imelda Staunton in the upcoming sixth season in November and the final season if it ever goes into filming. During its four seasons on the streaming site so far, the show has won great critical acclaim and multiple awards.

Morgan has created most of the seminal works of pop culture on Queen Elizabeth II. Apart from The Crown, he also wrote the Oscar-winning film The Queen (2006), and the play The Audience (2013-15). In both, Helen Mirren portrayed the monarch and won awards for her performances.