Fans react to The Crown finale, especially that epic queen reunion

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With The Crown finale out on Netflix, the reign of the royal drama officially comes to an end

Fans react to The Crown finale on Netflix. Pictured: Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth in The Crown
(Image credit: Netflix)

*Warning: spoilers ahead for The Crown season 6 finale!*

After six seasons, sixty episodes and five decades' worth of royal drama, The Crown has finally come to an end on Netflix. The historical series portrayed the life of Queen Elizabeth II from her wedding day to Prince Philip in 1947 all the way through the early 21st century, with actresses Claire Foy, Olivia Colman and Imelda Staunton trading off starring duties to portray the British monarch. 

The Crown season 6 finale—the final six episodes dropped on the streamer on Thursday, December 14, following the four episodes of The Crown season 6 part 1 that premiered on November 16—found a surprising and moving way to honor all three performers, an epic royal reunion that had fans feeling all of the feels. (More on that in a bit!)

The sixth season of the acclaimed drama covered events from 1997 through 2005, including the tragic death of Princess Diana (Elizabeth Debicki), the tenure of Prime Minister Tony Blair (Bertie Carvel), and the burgeoning relationship between a young Prince William and Kate Middleton (played by Ed McVey and Meg Bellamy). 

But the final episode, "Sleep, Dearie Sleep," also deals with the queen's death, a real-life event that wouldn't happen until nearly two decades later, on September 8, 2022. We see Staunton's Queen Elizabeth planning her own funeral procession and picturing her own coffin, draped in the royal standard. It is in the last moments of the episode, as the monarch is contemplating both her life and death in St. George's Chapel, that Foy and Colman pop up to cameo as younger versions of the queen. 

Viewers had plenty to say not only about the sentimental moment but also about the legacy of The Crown as a whole upon its finale. 

What fans had to say about The Crown finale: 

Though many The Crown fans praised the series as one of the best Netflix shows ever made, pointing to that "emotional" finale as proof, others felt that the final episode was "a letdown with too much emphasis on William and Kate over other, far more interesting stories." Do you agree? 

Fans react to that epic queenly reunion on The Crown:

Even if fan reactions to the finale overall may have been mixed, the image of Claire Foy, Olivia Colman and Imelda Staunton together onscreen as three versions of Queen Elizabeth wholeheartedly pleased The Crown fans, with one jokingly likening the moment to that infamous pointing Spider-Man meme. 

All six seasons of The Crown are now available to stream on Netflix. 

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Christina Izzo
Christina Izzo

Christina Izzo is the Deputy Editor of My Imperfect Life. More generally, she is a writer-editor covering food and drink, travel, lifestyle and culture in New York City. She was previously the Features Editor at Rachael Ray In Season and Reveal, as well as the Food & Drink Editor and chief restaurant critic at Time Out New York. 

When she’s not doing all that, she can probably be found eating cheese somewhere.