Producers unlikely to cover Duke and Duchess of Sussex drama on The Crown

An executive producer on The Crown has ruled out covering current events, such as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's decision to step back from royal duties, on the show.

After Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex announced they will drop most royal duties and work to become financially independent, fans began to speculate how the episode would be covered in Netflix's hit drama about the British royals.

However, executive producer Suzanne Mackie has shutdown the chatter by saying the drama, which currently stars Olivia Colman as Queen Elizabeth II, will only cover historical events relating to the British monarch and her family's lives.

"To be honest, whatever the life of The Crown is after where we are now, I doubt we'll ever go as far into the present day," she told the Press Association.

The current season takes place between 1964 and 1977, while the next series will take the story into the 1980s - with two more seasons expected, but not yet greenlit, potentially taking the story into the 21st century.

Show bosses' decision not to focus on the present-day means another difficult recent episode, Prince Andrew's disastrous interview on the BBC's Newsnight about his links to the child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, will also not be covered.

However, Mackie said the dark moment for the royals "resonated" with The Crown's writing team due to the huge public interest in the story.

"That was a particularly low point and it resonated for us in many ways but in terms of the huge public exposure of it, not great," the producer explained.

Series three of The Crown is available on Netflix now.