The Crown's creator believes Queen Elizabeth had "better things to do" than watch the show.

Peter Morgan doesn't think the late monarch, who passed away on September 8th aged 96, would've tuned into the Netflix historical drama, which has caused controversy over its royal family plots, because she was too busy.

He said: "God bless her. I'm sure she had better things to do."

Peter admits that as the show's protagonist the queen feels "very much alive" still following her passing.

Speaking about finding out the news she had died, he said: "I had just landed from Vienna and switched on my phone to a starburst of pings and messages.

"I felt a great many things at the same time. And the days that followed were simultaneously a global phenomenon, a moment in history which you watched unfold as a spectator, and an intense and entirely moving personal experience which one wanted to process alone.

"The entire experience was made even more complex by the fact that, as my protagonist, of course, she is still very much alive."

Imelda Staunton will take over the role of the queen from Olivia Colman for the show's upcoming fifth series, and she admits it was "odd" to be portraying Elizabeth during a period of global mourning for the late royal.

The 66-year-old star said: "That was pretty devastating. It was odd, to say the least. I'm glad I had time to regroup before I started again."

Dominic West - who plays the then-Prince Charles, who is now King Charles following his mother's death - in the show's fifth and sixth series, reveals he was glued to the news for three days after hearing about the monarch's passing, as filming on the series was suspended "out of respect".

He told Entertainment Weekly magazine: "I'd just flown to Barcelona to shoot my first day of season six.

"When I arrived in the hotel, one of the assistant directors said to me, 'Have you heard the news? The queen's very unwell.'

"I went up to my hotel room and I just watched the telly for three days and then went home. We didn't shoot at all, out of respect."

The fifth series of 'The Crown' - which will focus on the 1990s - will drop on November 9th, and will be the first season of the royal family drama following the passing of Prince Philip in April 2021, and the queen in September.