The Crown benefitted from £60m worth of tax breaks from Government

Makers of Netflix hit The Crown have benefitted from £60m worth of tax breaks from Government, accounts show

• The Crown has benefitted from Government tax breaks totalling £60million
• The show’s first four seasons cost a staggering £287.6million to make 
• Season five, to be released on November 9, will be the most controversial yet 
• The sixth season is being filmed and will show Princess Diana’s final hours 

Its depictions of royal events have ensured that the upcoming fifth season of Netflix drama The Crown will be the most controversial yet.

But while anyone critical of its portrayals is free to steer clear when the series premieres next month, they have no choice about helping to fund its production.

Since the blockbuster series launched in 2016, it has benefited from Government tax breaks totalling almost £60million, the Daily Mail can reveal today.

Under a scheme designed to encourage high-end international TV production in the UK, scripted productions can claim a cash rebate of up to 25 per cent of their costs in Britain.

The key condition is that they must spend at least £1million per broadcast hour – which is small beer for The Crown.

The Crown’s depictions of royal events have ensured that the upcoming fifth season of Netflix drama The Crown will be the most controversial yet. Pictured: Elizabeth Debicki as Princess Diana in her ‘revenge dress’

Its first four seasons cost a staggering £287.6milion to make, meaning their average cost came to £7.2million per hour.

Budgets of television shows are usually closely guarded. However, the costs of shows made in Britain are consolidated in single companies which file publicly available accounts.

As production wrapped only recently on the fifth series, its accounts have yet to be filed.

However, accounts are available for the previous four seasons and details of their tax arrangements are contained within them.

The accounts reveal the companies received £57.3million in credits over the first four seasons.

Its fifth season, which will be released on November 9, features an entirely new cast including Imelda Staunton as the Queen, Dominic West as Charles and Elizabeth Debicki as Diana

Over the two years to March last year, the credits for season four totalled £16.6million – 51 per cent more than it received for making season one just five years earlier.

It comes as Netflix has faced accusations of callousness for recreating Princess Diana’s final hours in season six of the series, which is currently being filmed.

Royal experts and friends of Diana have said that the streaming giant is being insensitive towards the feelings of her sons.

The Crown, which is made by Left Bank Pictures, initially starred Claire Foy as a young Queen before she was recast with Olivia Colman in series three.

Its fifth season, which will be released on November 9, features an entirely new cast including Imelda Staunton as the Queen, Dominic West as Charles and Elizabeth Debicki as Diana.

The Crown, which is made by Left Bank Pictures, initially starred Claire Foy (pictured) as a young Queen before she was recast with Olivia Colman in series three

Although the fifth series has not yet been released it has already landed itself in hot water.

Set in the 1990s, it reportedly includes a scene showing Prince Charles plotting with former Prime Minister Sir John Major to oust the Queen. Sir John called it ‘a barrel-load of nonsense’.

Addressing the issue of tax breaks for The Crown in 2020, Left Bank Pictures insisted it did not claim the rebate itself, saying it was ‘claimed by the production and the money is reinvested into the production budget’.

Left Bank Pictures was approached for comment. 

Netflix declined to comment.

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