The first season of The Crown follows the life and reign of Queen Elizabeth II. It consists of ten episodes and was released on Netflix on 4 November 2016.

Claire Foy stars as Elizabeth, with main cast members Matt Smith, Vanessa Kirby, Eileen Atkins, Jeremy Northam, Victoria Hamilton, Ben Miles, Greg Wise, Jared Harris, John Lithgow, Alex Jennings, and Lia Williams.

The Crown traces the life of Queen Elizabeth II from her wedding in 1947 through to the present day.^[1]

The first season, in which Claire Foy portrays the Queen in the early part of her reign, depicts events up to 1955, taking in the death of King George VI, prompting Elizabeth’s accession to the throne, and leading up to the resignation of Winston Churchill as prime minister and the Queen's sister Princess Margaret deciding not to marry Peter Townsend.^[2]

The series's first two episodes were released theatrically in the United Kingdom on 1 November 2016.^[9] The first season was released on Netflix worldwide in its entirety on 4 November 2016.^[10][11] Season one was released on DVD and Blu-ray in the United Kingdom on 16 October 2017 and worldwide on 7 November 2017.^[12][13]

All music composed by Rupert Gregson-Williams, except where noted:

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported 88% approval for the first season based on 72 reviews, with an average rating of 8.55/10. Its critical consensus reads, "Powerful performances and lavish cinematography make The Crown a top-notch production worthy of its grand subject."^[14] On Metacritic, the series holds a score of 81 out of 100, based on 29 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".^[15]

The Guardian's TV critic Lucy Mangan praised the series and wrote that "Netflix can rest assured that its £100m gamble has paid off. This first series, about good old British phlegm from first to last, is the service's crowning achievement so far."^[16] Writing for The Daily Telegraph, Ben Lawrence said, "The Crown is a PR triumph for the Windsors, a compassionate piece of work that humanises them in a way that has never been seen before. It is a portrait of an extraordinary family, an intelligent comment on the effects of the constitution on their personal lives and a fascinating account of postwar Britain all rolled into one."^[17] Writing for The Boston Globe, Matthew Gilbert also praised the series saying it "is thoroughly engaging, gorgeously shot, beautifully acted, rich in the historical events of postwar England, and designed with a sharp eye to psychological nuance".^[18] Vicki Hyman of The Star-Ledger described it as "sumptuous, stately but never dull".^[19] The A.V. Club's Gwen Ihnat said it adds "a cinematic quality to a complex and intricate time for an intimate family. The performers and creators are seemingly up for the task".^[20]

The Wall Street Journal critic Dorothy Rabinowitz said, "We're clearly meant to see the duke [of Windsor] as a wastrel with heart. It doesn't quite come off—Mr. Jennings is far too convincing as an empty-hearted scoundrel—but it's a minor flaw in this superbly sustained work."^[21] Robert Lloyd writing for the Los Angeles Times said, "As television it's excellent—beautifully mounted, movingly played and only mildly melodramatic."^[22] Hank Stuever of The Washington Post also reviewed the series positively: "Pieces of The Crown are more brilliant on their own than they are as a series, taken in as shorter, intently focused films".^[23] Neil Genzlinger of The New York Times said, "This is a thoughtful series that lingers over death rather than using it for shock value; one that finds its story lines in small power struggles rather than gruesome palace coups."^[24] The Hollywood Reporter's Daniel Fienberg said the first season "remains gripping across the entirety of the 10 episodes made available to critics, finding both emotional heft in Elizabeth's youthful ascension and unexpected suspense in matters of courtly protocol and etiquette".^[25] Other publications such as USA Today,^[26] Indiewire,^[27] The Atlantic,^[28] CNN^[29] and Variety^[30] also reviewed the series positively.

Some were more critical of the show. In a review for Time magazine, Daniel D'Addario wrote that it "will be compared to Downton Abbey, but that .. was able to invent ahistorical or at least unexpected notes. Foy struggles mightily, but she's given little...The Crown's Elizabeth is more than unknowable. She's a bore".^[31] Vulture's Matt Zoller Seitz concluded, "The Crown never entirely figures out how to make the political and domestic drama genuinely dramatic, much less bestow complexity on characters outside England's innermost circle."^[32] Verne Gay of Newsday said, "Sumptuously produced but glacially told, The Crown is the TV equivalent of a long drive through the English countryside. The scenery keeps changing, but remains the same."^[33] Slate magazine's Willa Paskin, commented: "It will scratch your period drama itch—and leave you itchy for action."^[34]

Lithgow won the 2017 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his performance in the episode "Assassins."^[35]

The re-enactment of the removal of King George VI's cancerous lung, originally performed by Sir Clement Price Thomas, was researched and planned by Pankaj Chandak, a specialist in transplant surgery at Guy's Hospital, London. Chandak and his surgical team then became part of the actual scene filmed for the show.^[36] The surgical model of King George VI was donated to the Gordon Museum of Pathology in King's College, London for use as a teaching aid.^[37]

The show has been interpreted as perpetuating the idea that the Queen and Churchill forced Princess Margaret to give up her plan to marry Peter Townsend and depicted the Queen informing her that, due to the Royal Marriages Act 1772, she would no longer be a member of the family if they married. However, there is clear evidence that, in reality, efforts had been made by the Queen and Anthony Eden in developing a plan that would have allowed Princess Margaret to keep her royal title and her civil list allowance, stay in the country, and continue with her public duties but she would have been required to renounce her rights of succession and those of her children.^[38]

Though the show depicted a dispute over Michael Adeane being the natural successor to Tommy Lascelles as the Queen's private secretary, this did not, in reality, happen; Martin Charteris accordingly took the role in 1972.^[39][40]

Royal biographer Hugo Vickers denied that Princess Margaret had acted as monarch while the Queen was on tour and claimed that her speech at the ambassador's reception never happened. Charteris was on tour with the Queen and not in London during these events. The Queen Mother bought the Castle of Mey a year earlier than depicted on the show, and often looked after Prince Charles and Princess Anne while the Queen was away.^[39][41]

Churchill's wife Clementine is depicted as overseeing the burning of her husband's portrait by artist Graham Sutherland shortly after Churchill's retirement. In reality, the painting was destroyed by the brother of their private secretary, Grace Hamblin, without the involvement of Hamblin herself.^[39][42]