The Crown and its shooting locations in Spain
The Crown is a TV series about Queen Elizabeth II. The time span it encompasses goes from the 40s to modern times, and many scenes have been shot in Spain—mostly, sequences from the third and fourth seasons. Majorca and Andalusia are some of the locations that make up the Spain of The Crown.
San Juan de Aznalfarache. | Shutterstock
One of the plots of the third season revolves around the mother of the husband of Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh: Princess Alice of Battenberg. During World War II, Battenberg lived in Athens and she worked at the Red Cross, helping establish charity canteens. In order to portray the streets the princess walked through, they chose the municipality of San Juan de Aznalfarache, next to the Guadalquivir.
Hotel Alfonso XIII in Seville. | Shutterstock
The capital of Seville also belongs to the Spanish The Crown. Princess Margaret, sister of Elizabeth II, made a trip through California with her husband Antony Armstrong-Jones in the 60s. This popular hotel portrayed one of the stages of said trip.
Playa de los Alemanes in Zahara de los Atunes. | Shutterstock
If there is a province in Andalusia that has gathered shooting locations in this Netflix production, it must be Cádiz. For the third season, some of the scenes of Princess Margaret’s retirement were filmed on the beach known as Playa de los Alemanes in Zahara de los Atunes. In this case, the setting embodied the island of Mustique, a Caribbean paradise. We can find on this location some of the sceneries of The Crown, both interior and exterior.
Sotogrande. | Shutterstock
The residential area of Sotogrande in the municipality of San Roque constitutes another location of Margaret’s visit to the United States in season 3. For example, we can see on screen the princess driving along the palm trees of the residential area.
There is another plot which takes place both in Seville and Cádiz, and it revolves around the already mentioned Alice of Battenberg. In this case, the location they chose to shoot the series was the Naval Station of La Carraca, an 18th-century military base in the municipality of San Fernando. Once again, the Spanish location was used to portray Athenian streets. Here we can see how the mother of the Duke of Edinburgh pawns a jewel to fund the convent she is living in. During World War II, the Princess even lived in austerity.
The Naval Station of La Carraca can be seen in The Crown for a second time. In season 4, it stages Margaret Thatcher walking into a ship. This scene portrays the British port of Nassau in the Bahamas, where an important Commonwealth meeting was held in 1985.
The library of the university campus of Río San Pedro in Puerto Real can be seen in the series too, and it portrays the port of Nassau at the same time as before. Only in this case, it stages the arrival of Elizabeth II to the meeting.
Campo de Gibraltar. | Shutterstock
In the fourth season of The Crown—which is mainly focused on the marriage of Diana, Princess of Wales, and Charles III—Spain was used on several occasions to portray their tour through Australia. This way, the iron bridge of San Martín del Tesorillo, in the comarca of Campo de Gibraltar, belongs to a lush Australian forest near Darwin in the series.
Jerez de la Frontera. | Shutterstock
Following the plot of Alice of Battenberg, the church of Santo Domingo in Jerez, on the outskirts of the city, embodies the convent where the Princess lived in Greece. The same one she pawned a jewel for. In addition, the estate of La Peñuela becomes a ranch from Arizona Princess Margaret and Anthony Armstrong Jones stayed at during a trip to the United States.
The beach of Bolonia. | Shutterstock
Season 5, which has not aired yet, has also included several spots in Spain. Even though Majorca has been a clear protagonist, the beach of Bolonia will appear on-screen portraying some ruins Princess Diana visited while she was staying in Italy.
Torremolinos. | Shutterstock
Málaga has a recurring role in season 4 too, but it only appears in one of the third season’s chapters of The Crown. More specifically, the conference centre of Torremolinos was used to portray the arrival of Princess Margaret and her husband at the airport of Los Angeles in one of the tours they made through the States.
Hotel Málaga Palacio. | Shutterstock
As we have said before, the marriage of Princess Diana and Charles III is the backbone of season 4. To this respect, the provinces of Málaga and Almería were chosen to picture their stay at Australia. For instance, Netflix used this hotel, which is one of the most popular ones in Málaga, to portray their arrival at the city of Brisbane, although there are more spots in the city that appear on-screen.
In the real world, the military residence of Castañón de la Mena is one of the largest ones in Europe. However, in the Spanish The Crown, this place stages the royal couple’s visit to Oceania. For example, the character of Princess Diana poses in a pool next to some swimmers after a competition in Sidney.
It might seem difficult to believe, but the auditorium of Cortijo de Torres in Málaga got dressed as the very Sydney Opera House thanks to a post-production work. Here, Prince Charles delivers one of his many speeches.
In this hotel we can see actress Gillian Anderson play the role of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, having an argument with her husband or going through the drafts of her speeches.
The botanical garden of La Concepción. | Shutterstock
Another stop of the Princes of Wales in Australia was the city of Adelaida, whose shooting location corresponds to the botanical garden of La Concepción, an English garden created in 1855 by the marquises of Casa Loring.
Tabernas. | Shutterstock
Almería is still some kind of Australian Andalusia. We could not possibly miss the Tabernas desert, which is quite often used as a shooting location. This time, Netflix chose the plain of Llano del Búho to recreate the Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park, where Princess Diana and her husband failed to reach a peak.
The surroundings of El Toyo. | Shutterstock
The residential area of El Toyo is another spot in Málaga The Crown used to shoot some of its scenes. El Toyo was built in 2005 to act as an Olympic Village for the Mediterranean Games. In the series, they used it to portray different airports where the princes travelled by plane.
The cove of Sa Calobra. | Shutterstock
In season 5, one of the main plots will revolve around Princess Diana of Wales and the multimillionaire Dodi Al-Fayed. Majorca has been the stage of their love story, resembling landscapes on the French Riviera which correspond to the south-west of France and the whole of Monaco. The cove of Sa Calobra, the mountain range of Tramontana and Port Sóller have been some of the sceneries we will see in the next season.
