TRIVIA

The series is one of the most expensive television series ever made. Each episode is budgeted at $5m and it had already been commissioned for two seasons, with the intention of four more, before the first episode had even been completed or any episode broadcast.

Creator Peter Morgan envisages the series as being 60 episodes in total over six seasons, with the first season depicting events up to 1955. Claire Foy will portray Queen Elizabeth II for at least the first two seasons.

For his role as Winston Churchill, John Lithgow's dialect coach was William Conacher, who also had to coach the other mostly British cast because of subtle changes in English accents over the decades. Lithgow actually stuffed cotton in his nostrils in order to capture the faint nasal timbre of Churchill's intonations, while a dialect evolutionist was on set to monitor the accuracy of accents over the time span of the series. It was noted, for example, that Queen Elizabeth II's pronunciation of vowels during the 1950s differs enormously from the way her grandson, Prince Harry Windsor, speaks today.

The iconic black door of 10 Downing Street had to be made larger than scale in order that John Lithgow, who is 6' 4'' in height would not look significantly larger than the real life 'Winston Churchill', who at this stage was around 5' 6'' tall.

The series is Netflix's second most expensive project, budgeted at approximately £100 million, just behind The Get Down (2016), which cost around £120 million.

The series accurately portrays King George VI's speech impediment, which was a terrible stutter. This aspect of his life was previously detailed in the Oscar-winning film The King's Speech (2010).

For his role as Churchill John Lithgow has said that the makeup process was remarkably uncomplicated and only took about 20 minutes to complete for each session. Apart from a wispy wig, a "plumpers" plate had to be attached to his back teeth in order to accentuate his jowls, and tight collars were used to 'force' the characteristic Churchill 'double chin'. This process was overseen by Ivana Primorac.

Claire Foy is four years older than Vanessa Kirby in real life, which is the same age difference between their real life characters Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret.

Alex Jennings plays the abdicated Duke of Windsor. Jennings previously starred as another royal family member, Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, in The Queen (2006). Both projects were written by Peter Morgan. Jennings is now renown for playing royals. He also portrayed King George III in Liberty! The American Revolution (1997), and King Leopold I of Belgium (whose wife Princess Charlotte of Wales died before she could become Queen of the United Kingdom) in Victoria (2016).

Series creator Peter Morgan has previously worked on projects about Queen Elizabeth II's later life. His screenplay for The Queen (2006), which details the monarch's reaction to the death of Princess Diana, was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and starred Helen Mirren in the title role. As well this, his critically acclaimed 2015 play, The Audience, also starred Mirren as the Queen, and ultimately inspired this series.

Several actresses in the series have previously played other English queens. Claire Foy (Queen Elizabeth II) starred as Anne Boleyn in Wolf Hall (2015). As well as this, Victoria Hamilton (Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother) played Queen Victoria in Victoria & Albert (2001). Eileen Atkins, who is playing Queen Mary of Teck for the second time (she previously starred as the monarch in Bertie and Elizabeth (2002)), played Eleanor of Aquitaine (wife of Henry II) in Robin Hood (2010). In addition to these portrayals, Kate Phillips (Venetia Scott) played Jane Seymour (third wife of Henry VIII) in Wolf Hall (2015). In the series, her character supplants Anne Boleyn played by Claire Foy.

In an early reading of the series in 2014, Queen Elizabeth II was played by Felicity Jones.

On November 1, 2016, the first two episodes were released theatrically in the United Kingdom.

Claire Foy was breast-feeding her newborn infant during production of the first season.

John Lithgow, who portrays Winston Churchill, previously starred as American President Franklin D. Roosevelt opposite Bob Hoskins' Churchill in World War II: When Lions Roared (1994).

Filming took place at Ely Cathedral in Ely, Cambridgeshire in August 2015, and at IWM Duxford in Cambridgeshire between November 2015 and March 2016.

In the Doctor Who (2005) episode Doctor Who: The Wedding of River Song (2011), Matt Smith's Doctor acted as an advisor to Winston Churchill. The character of Churchill also appears in this series, and is portrayed by John Lithgow.

When the Queen asks for a quick primer on President Eisenhower, in advance of his State Visit early in her reign, she is told "The military-industrial complex, and all that." That term did not come into any kind of prominence until President Eisenhower used it in his Farewell Address in January 1961.

This marks the second time that John Lithgow has shared a role with Robert Hardy, and they are both political leaders from the World War II era. They have now each played Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Winston Churchill.

Will Keen, Joseph Kloska, and David Yelland all appear in the same episode, "The Hide", of Foyle's War (Set 6).

SPOILERS

The trivia items below may give away important plot points. In this series, Queen Elizabeth II is portrayed as opposing Princess Margaret's proposed marriage to Group Captain Peter Townsend, on the grounds that he was divorced. This is a common public misconception. However, papers in the National Archives, which were made public in 2004, show that the Queen and Anthony Eden, the British Prime Minster at the time, drew up an agreement to allow the marriage to take place as long as Princess Margaret renounced her right, and that of her children, to the throne. Nevertheless, Margaret announced, three days after the agreement had been finalized, that she would not marry Townsend after all.

Contrary to the way it is portrayed in the series, Wallis Simpson, the Duchess of Windsor (Lia Williams) was not present in the room during the Duke of Windsor's abdication radio broadcast.