The Crown creator Peter Morgan has cleared up speculation about whether future series will depict more modern royal subjects involving the likes of Meghan Markle and Prince Andrew.
While Peter has previously said the Netflix drama wouldn’t be going up to the present day, the recent announcement it would run for one series longer than expected led some fans to wonder whether the story would go on to explore Princes William and Harry’s marriages, and the recent scandal involving Prince Andrew.
However, speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, the writer has insisted the show will remain rooted in the past, as he believes subjects become “so much more interesting” as time passes.
“Meghan and Harry are in the middle of their journey, and I don’t know what their journey is or how it will end,” he explained.
“One wishes some happiness, but I’m much more comfortable writing about things that happened at least 20 years ago.”
Peter added that he has a “20-year rule” when it comes to The Crown, claiming: “That is enough time and enough distance to really understand something, to understand its role, to understand its position, to understand its relevance.
“Often things that appear absolutely wildly important today are instantly forgotten, and other things have a habit of sticking around and proving to be historically very relevant and long-lasting.
“I don’t know where in the scheme of things Prince Andrew or indeed Meghan Markle or Harry will ever appear. We won’t know, and you need time to stop something being journalistic.
“And so I don’t want to write about them because to write about them would instantly make it journalistic. And there are plenty of journalists already writing about them.”
He added: “To be a dramatist, I think you need perspective and you need to also allow for the opportunity for metaphor. Once something has a metaphorical possibility, it can then become interesting.
“It’s quite possible, for example, to tell the story of Harry and Meghan through analogy and metaphor, if that’s what you want to do. Because there’ve been so many examples in the past, whether it’s Wallis Simpson or Edward VII, or whether it’s Diana and Prince Charles.
“There have been plenty of opportunities in the past where there have been marital complications. There’ve been wives that have been married into the royal family that have felt unwelcome and that they don’t fit in. So there are plenty of stories to tell without telling the story of Harry and Meghan.”
If Peter does intend to keep the events of The Crown to a minimum of 20 years away, it looks likely the show could come to an end in 2002, when the Queen celebrated her 50th year on the throne with her Golden Jubilee.
Olivia Colman’s second and final series at the helm of The Crown is yet to debut on Netflix, with the team completing production just before the UK went into lockdown this year.
The cast for the show’s fifth and sixth seasons has slowly been announced over the last few months, with Imelda Staunton and Jonathan Pryce succeeding Olivia and Tobias Menzies in the lead roles of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip.
Lesley Manville will take over from Helena Bonham Carter as Princess Margaret, while it’s also been revealed that Elizabeth Debicki – soon to appear in the new Christopher Nolan film Tenet – will be playing Princess Diana.
The new actors portraying Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles are yet to be revealed.