The Netflix series The Crown has been delighting fans around the world since 2016. Beginning with the marriage of then-Princess Elizabeth to Philip Mountbatten, the series chronicles the reign of Queen Elizabeth II (who celebrates her 70th jubilee in real life this year), plus the drama that unfolded within the royal family.
In addition to its captivating stories and great actors, the production also impresses with its wonderful and valuable props and equipment. And it is exactly this that has become the series’ undoing.
In the early morning of February 16, The Crown film crew members reported a theft to police in Doncaster, Yorkshire, where final filming of season five was taking place. Three vehicles with props had been broken into and looted.
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Numerous antiques worth a total of £150,000 ($200,000) were stolen, including candelabra and a silver hairdressing set, Russian icons, crystal carafes, the face of a William IV grandfather clock and a replica of Fabergé's Coronation Egg, which the last Russian tsar, Nicholas II, gave to his wife Alexandra for Easter in 1897.
After no lead was found to be worth pursuing, South Yorkshire Police have had to put the investigation on hold for the time being. Netflix announced that the stolen pieces will be replaced as soon as possible so as not to jeopardize the planned broadcast date of late 2022.
The fifth season of The Crown covers the events of the 1990s through 1997, the year of Princess Diana's tragic death. A sixth and final season has already been ordered.
