Did The Queen really consider stepping down? As The Crown shows Queen Elizabeth debating abdicating

Viewers of The Crown are wondering, did The Queen really consider stepping down? As Her Majesty was depicted considering abdication back in 2005.

Season 6 part 2 of The Crown launched on December 14th, 2023, and fans have been gripped by the new series of the show which delved into the aftermath of Princess Diana's death in 1997 and how the Royal Family coped with this enormous loss. While some are wondering, who did Kate and William date before each other, or where was The Crown filmed, others want to know how factual the final episode of the show was, and whether The Queen really considered abdicating from the throne? Here's what we know...  

The finale of The Crown shows the Queen battling with thoughts of abdication. The show portrays the Queen wondering if she should take the lead of other European monarchs and retire from the throne before she became too old and unfit for the job. As we know from real life, the Queen never abdicated and chose to serve the country as the monarch until her dying days. So did she ever really consider handing the throne to Charles? It's unlikely.

There is nothing to suggest that the Queen was wrestling with thoughts about abdicating in 2005, and it's likely that this was introduced as a good way to end the series, with the three versions of the Queen deciding to commit to a life of duty - until the bitter end. Although there is nothing to suggest that the Queen was considering abdicating, there likely wouldn't be any historical evidence if this was true as it was an inner battle for Her Majesty and even in the show, her family only suspected that she might be considering stepping down. 

Although the Queen didn't retire, her husband the Duke of Edinburgh retired in 2017, years before he died in 2021.

Our Royal Editor, Emma Shacklock, commented on the validity of this scene and suggested that it was nothing more than an invented plot line from Netflix -and rather far from reality. Emma argued that Her Majesty would have never abdicated as she was devoted to a life of service and saw it as a duty from God.

"This scene between Imelda Staunton’s Queen Elizabeth and Claire Foy’s Queen works dramatically on screen but I believe it’s unlikely to have been a major consideration for the late Queen Elizabeth. On her 21st birthday she delivered an iconic speech to the Commonwealth where she declared that her ‘whole life, whether it be long or short’ would be ‘devoted’ to service and she never wavered in this." 

Emma Shacklock

Emma is the Royals Editor at Woman&Home and specialises in everything from historic royal traditions to magnificent residences. She also covers the best outfits from the likes of the Princess of Wales and Queen Camilla and the Royal Family’s work to support important causes close to their hearts.  

"This devotion wasn’t something she undertook lightly and throughout her reign, she continued to prioritise her duty as monarch - just a few days before she passed away she met with then-Prime Minister Liz Truss at Balmoral. Whilst she might have considered what might have been had she not been Queen, ultimately I think she wouldn’t ever have thought of abdicating to the degree we see in the show," Emma concluded.

So the Netflix show may not have got this aspect of The Crown exactly right, but they certainly nailed some other aspects. Retro pics of Prince William playing water polo prove The Crown was right about his athletic past which was depicted in the show.