12 interesting things you may not know about 'The Crown'

An unnamed senior royal source told the Daily Express in 2017 that Queen Elizabeth II "really likes" watching "The Crown."

And in 2018, an unnamed palace insider told In Touch that the Netflix original makes the queen "feel nostalgic" and she's "intrigued by how the series ... portrays her."

According to Money.com, production on the first season of the popular Netflix show reportedly cost $130 million, making it one of the most expensive series ever made.

Needless to say, if you want to make a show about royalty, you'll need the budget to pay for fabulous costumes, a talented cast, and lavish filming locations.

"The Crown" isn't Peter Morgan's first royal production. In fact, Morgan was the writer and producer of the award-winning film "The Queen," starring Helen Mirren.

He also wrote a play titled "The Audience" about Queen Elizabeth II.

As of 2017, John Lithgow is the only American that portrays a British character on "The Crown." Lithgow was cast as Winston Churchill.

According to Hollywood Reporter, a lot of time and effort went into creating Churchill's likeness. Lithgow even put cotton in his nose to mimic the historic figure's voice.

Despite the dramatic events that take place on the show, the queen never forbid her sister, Princess Margaret, from marrying Peter Townsend, a divorcée.

In fact, papers "available in the National Archives since 2004," according to the BBC, reveal that the queen worked with Sir Anthony Eden, then Prime Minister of the UK, to draft a plan under which Margaret would still keep her title and annual allowance after marrying Townsend — provided she renounce her claim to the throne.

The princess eventually decided not to marry Townsend.

The show might suggest otherwise, but Prince Philip did kneel before his wife in public — and there's no evidence he ever complained about it.

As a royal himself, he likely knows that kneeling is a sign of respect to the monarch, and no one is above kneeling in front of them — even spouses.

The actress had also just given birth when the series started filming its first season. Foy has been open about breastfeeding on set and adjusting to being a new mom while portraying Queen Elizabeth II.

Tobias Menzies, who played Prince Philip on season three, didn't really care much about the royal family before he scored his role on "The Crown."

"I wasn't massively interested in the royals before I took the part," Menzies told the Radio Times in 2019.

He continued, "I wasn't someone who read about them or involved myself with them, but I've been very intrigued by [Prince Philip's] life. He's a pretty interesting bloke. He's a complex person, with complex stories. I have a lot of regard for him."

In 2016, the actress told Vanity Fair: "I'd just had a baby when I started filming, so I had to wear a proper corset because I was about five dress sizes bigger than I normally am."

Foy said the corset helped her "not slouch" — and her improved posture stayed with her throughout season two, even after she ditched the corset.

The costumes on "The Crown" are lavish, elaborate, and fit for a real-life royal. The one that took the longest to create was the jaw-dropping wedding gown worn by Foy on the first season.

Costume designer Michele Clapton told Harper's Bazaar in 2016 that creating this dress took weeks of hard labor and several fittings to get right.

Although incredibly realistic, none of the scenes in the show were actually filmed in Buckingham Palace.

In order to recreate the ornate interior of the famed palace, researches for the show went on tours there and built sets with the goal of recreating the atmosphere of the palace, as opposed to making accurate replicas.

The corgis that appear on "The Crown" have been called "odd" by their costar Foy, who has said she's "not much of a dog person."

"I really loved them, but they're just, in general ... the corgis are odd," she told Vanity Fair in 2016. "They love cheese, like cheddar cheese."

She also said it's "scary" how they eat nearly an entire block of cheddar cheese each day.

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