Netflix viewers go wild over casting choices in The Crown’s final episodes

As fans devour the final batch of Crown episodes, it seems Netflix got some things very right – and others very, very wrong.

The stars of the Crown, season six.

The final episodes of The Crown are now available to stream on Netflix – and one casting choice in particular has left many viewers scratching their heads.

The Crown’s sixth and final season dropped in two parts: The first four episodes, released in November, ended with an episode examining the immediate aftermath of Diana’s 1997 death.

Episode five, released in this month’s final batch of six, picks up the story just a couple of months later.

In the first round of episodes, a young Prince Harry is played by 14-year-old child actor Fflyn Edwards. By episode five – and remember, just a few months have passed in the world of The Crown – Harry is suddenly played by actor Luther Ford, who is 23 years old.

The adult actor is portraying Harry as a 13 to 14-year-old and it’s … jarring, to say the least:

Young Harry with his mum Diana …

The new-look Prince Harry months after her death.

Viewers had plenty to say on social media about the fictionalised Prince Harry’s rapid ageing – and the actor’s lack of resemblance to the real-life Prince (giving the actor an unflattering, blunt-fringed bowl cut certainly hasn’t helped):

The writers of #TheCrown must dislike Harry because why else would they age him significantly and make him resemble Ron Weasley's drunk brother? #TheCrown6
pic.twitter.com/j8UyoZM2M3

— Mpho 🇵🇸 (@miss_madiba) December 17, 2023

Losing my head at the new episode of #TheCrown. The difference between Harry in August 1997 and Harry in September 1997 has absolutely buckled me 😂😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/5GYEeJZrY7

— Jones (@jonesnsenoj) December 15, 2023

I really can’t with this grown man playing 13 year old Prince Harry. Y’all are wild for that 😂 #TheCrownpic.twitter.com/qVwJQmBrmC

— Port Misery, Head of Anna's Legal Defense Team (@port_misery) December 17, 2023

I am so confused about the casting choice for Harry in #TheCrownpic.twitter.com/y4mKir61eS

— Charlie (@CharlieBayer8) December 16, 2023

Prince Harry Prince Harry
August 31 November 20#TheCrownpic.twitter.com/YZGU4c0gzy

— Flo 🍸🦩🐝🪞 (@Klaine8468) December 18, 2023

While there were complaints about that casting choice, another decision in The Crown’s final batch of episodes has been widely praised.

The eighth episode of the season deals with the events leading up to Princess Margaret’s death in 2002 – and in one recurring flashback, Margaret recalls sneaking out of Buckingham Palace with her teenage sister Elizabeth the night World War II ended to join the celebrations on the street.

Fans who’ve watched the show since the beginning will remember that Claire Foy played Elizabeth as a young woman – but with Foy now 39 years old, it might’ve stretched credulity to have her appear in the flashbacks as a 19-year-old Elizabeth back in 1945.

Instead, the show opted for an actress – 20-year-old Viola Prettejohn – who so closely resembles Foy, some fans were convinced it really was her:

The casting of teenage Elizabeth is outstanding. She completely looks like Claire Foy has been cgi-ed to look younger! #TheCrownpic.twitter.com/FJjL0CTN9t

— amy (@amymarched) December 14, 2023

the casting of viola prettejohn as young elizabeth in the crown is so good. like that is a young claire foy. casting directors are so amazing pic.twitter.com/RjzvMnPc37

— Nora Dominick (@noradominick) December 15, 2023

It's uncanny how similar they look!🤯#TheCrown

Viola Prettejohn Claire Foy pic.twitter.com/yQrRlocVk6

— Arshak :) (@Arshockofficial) December 16, 2023

They did such a good job with casting Viola Prettejohn as young Elizebeth. She looks SO much like Claire Foy, at first I thought it was her. #TheCrownpic.twitter.com/6gEZAR3G0q

— Sarah ✨ (@SarahFreer) December 15, 2023

Prettejohn revealed in a recent interview that her scene-stealing role as the young Elizabeth came after she’d auditioned for The Crown on three previous occasions.

Previous auditions for the show included a pitch at playing the young Diana, eventually portrayed by Emma Corrin.

“When the Diana audition came about I was so excited but I also very much knew that it was the longest shot ever – they were very clear they needed her to be from seventeen to when they’re getting a divorce and she’s had children,” she told City A.M.

“I was 16 and I wasn’t an old-looking teenager. I basically knew I wasn’t going to get it.”