The 10-episode first season which airs on Netflix is created and written by Peter Morgan, Golden Globe winner for Best Screenplay for The Queen, and nominee for the same award for Frost/Nixon.  The show starts with Princess Elizabeth’s marriage to Prince Philip in 1947 and follows the lives of the royals up to her coronation as Queen Elizabeth II, on to 1955.  Globe nominee Claire Foy, who plays Elizabeth, told the HFPA, “The Crown is not a documentary, it’s fiction.  But the research done around that was surprising.  The Queen is a very, very discreet and private person.  You can’t really read any exposes or sensational facts about her.  It’s not a glimpse behind closed doors, but it’s imagining that situation with those people and what might have happened.”  Morgan has said that the royal family are “very, very aware” of the show and that “through untraceable back channels, countless approaches have been made” to get them to endorse it.”  In addition to the show and Foy getting a nomination, supporting actor John Lithgow also received one for his portrayal of Winston Churchill.