Netflix’s ‘The Crown’ production designer Martin Childs recently opened up about how the TV series was barred from filming at Buckingham Palace and why Childs was happy about it.
The show chronicles the lives of Queen Elizabeth II, her family, and her relationships with various other historical figures including British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, former US President John F. Kennedy, and even evangelist Billy Graham.
Initially, the studio was hoping to shoot some scenes within Buckingham Palace in London but was denied permission. Childs discussed why this ultimately was a blessing for the critically acclaimed and audience-adored show.
“I did a little exercise recently to work out how many locations we’ve used to play the parts of Buckingham Palace, and it was 50, including the five places that we built at Elstree,” he explained to the Express that he did an ‘undercover tour’ of the palace.
“So part of the exercise really is looking at all those rooms in all of those houses, connecting them to look like one house,” Childs said. “So the invisible thread between all of them needs to establish itself so that all of the bits that you have to necessarily invent, like private apartments, must feel real must feel like they belong to all of the bits that we’re more familiar with.”
“And I went through all of these rooms, and I thought how on earth we were going to distinguish one from another,” he continued. “So in the sense that using many houses, although they have a sort of constant thread of continuity, was helpful to me, because all of those rooms could then look different. But if you walk through Buckingham Palace, there’s no noticeable distinction between all the roles.”
“And so in the end, I thought, ‘I’m really pleased they’re not giving us permission to shoot’, because we’re going to have difficulty making this look great,” Child said.
‘The Crown’ starred Claire Foy as the Queen of England for the first two seasons before Olivia Colman took over the role in seasons three and four. ‘Sense and Sensibility’ actress Imelda Staunton will take over the role for its final two seasons.
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