The Crown series 6 first teaser: Final instalment to be split into two parts as trailer sees Claire Foy and Olivia Colman return alongside Imelda Staunton to chart Queen Elizabeth’s conflict over her life and duty

The six release date for the Crown series was revealed on Monday – as fans were given a glimpse of what to expect from the final installment.

A first trailer was also released showing Imelda Staunton returning as Queen Elizabeth.

It also features snippets of footage from previous Queen actresses Claire Foy and Olivia Colman in a nod to the series’ decades-spanning journey.

The first four episodes of the series will debut on the streamer on November 16.

The show will then take a hiatus of almost an entire month before releasing its final six episodes on December 14.

The series poster shows one striking shot of Princess Diana in a blue bathing suit sitting at the end of a jetty.

While another ominous shot shows the queen walking alone through the shadows towards an open door.

‘The crown is a symbol of permeance. It’s something you are, not what you do,’ Foy said as a television shot of her in character flashes to start the trailer.

She first starred as the monarch in seasons one and two of The Crown, playing a young Queen Elizabeth.

‘A part of our natural self is always lost. We have all made sacrifices. It is not a choice. It’s a duty,’ echoed Colman.

The video scrolled to a framed photo of her in character as the sovereign, which she played in seasons three and four

The clip then cuts dramatically to Staunton in costume, quietly holding her hands before walking out onto a Buckingham Palace-esque balcony to greet a cheering crowd.

‘But what of life, have I set aside? The would not – I set aside?’ Staunton’s voice then asked.

It comes after it was claimed that The Crown could return as a series of films once the sixth and final series of the royal drama airs later this year.

According to sources, Netflix is ​​keen to somehow continue the series after it was previously believed that it would only run until the end of the sixth season.

A TV insider told the Sun: ‘Although it sounds like a drastic change, it’s one that was a huge success for Downton Abbey, which ran for 52 episodes before going on to be two hit films.

“Creating a movie, or perhaps a series of specials, means that creators have so much more flexibility to jump around in terms of time and subjects.

‘They could deliver a prequel, perhaps focusing on the abdication crisis in the 1930s. Furthermore, there is the option of revisiting 21st century royalty, perhaps focusing on Harry’s meeting with Meghan and his falling out with William.’

MailOnline has contacted Netflix for comment.

last month, Netflix insiders have hinted to the Mail On Sunday that there could be another series of the hit Royal drama.

The streaming platform has always insisted that the sixth season, expected to air this fall, will be the last, taking events up to the late queen’s death last year.

But at a recent wrap party to mark the end of filming those episodes, producers revealed that an extra series could be on the cards. With a wink, one manager hinted: ‘Just wait until next year – maybe we’ll be in production.’

The big-budget series, which charted the late Queen’s life since her 1947 wedding to Prince Philip, has become more controversial as the events it dramatizes – often with only a loose connection to the truth – have become more contemporary. became

So if a seventh series covers King Charles’s reign, it could make more headlines.

Another possibility would be a prequel, focusing on the late queen’s childhood and teenage years.

The final scenes of series six to be shot recreated the 2005 wedding of Charles and Camilla, played by Dominic West and Olivia Williams.

Last month, West, 53, was visibly emotional as filming wrapped in Rochester, Kent, standing in for Windsor. But the day ended in a festive mood, with cast and crew dancing to a live band.

West was also the last man standing at the wrap party, leaving the bash at the Natural History Museum at 3.30am. Others there were Imelda, who plays the Queen, and Jonathan Pryce, who plays Philip.

Olivia Colman and Claire Foy played younger versions of Her Majesty in previous series.