The Crown: Britain's Palaces in Disguise

The series follows Queen Elizabeth II from her wedding in 1947, and a good part of its first season was made indoors in Hertfordshire. An estimated 25% of season one was filmed at Elstree Studios in Borehamwood. The production built sets there for the private quarters, the interior of a private jet, the cabinet room and the exterior of 10 Downing Street. Film production began in the area in 1914, so the series joined more than a century of filmmaking there.

Buckingham Palace is the heart of the story, but for season one the production used Lancaster House, Wrotham Park and Wilton House to double as it. Lancaster House is a mansion on The Mall in St James's, in the City of Westminster, and it reprised its role as Buckingham Palace for the series. Beside Green Park, it stands next to Clarence House and St James's Palace.

Season one covers Elizabeth's accession and coronation after the death of George VI. For Westminster Abbey the production turned to Ely Cathedral and Winchester Cathedral; Ely took the role in 2016. It was a familiar part for the building, which had already substituted for Westminster Abbey in The King's Speech. The cathedral's most notable feature is its central octagonal tower, with a lantern above.

Para el visitante: Ely Cathedral is a working cathedral open to visitors; check opening times first.

Winchester's interior was used as a substitute for Westminster Abbey for Lord Louis Mountbatten's funeral in season four, and for St Paul's Cathedral for Sir Winston Churchill's funeral in season three. It also stood in for Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer's wedding rehearsals and the wedding itself in season four. The cathedral is the longest medieval cathedral in the world.

Para el visitante: Winchester Cathedral is open to visitors; check opening times first.

Season five runs from 1991 to 1997, taking in the divorce of Charles and Diana and the Queen's annus horribilis of 1992. Filming began in July 2021, and Cobham Hall in Kent doubled as Eton College. The grade I listed Elizabethan house is one of the largest and most important in Kent, and today it is Cobham Hall School, a private day and boarding school.