Filming of 'The Crown' in Barcelona halted after Queen's death

Filming of the Netflix series 'The Crown' was due to take place in Barcelona in the coming days but has been suspended just hours after the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

As first reported by radio station SER Catalunya and confirmed on site by Catalan News, 'The Crown' staff was dismounting sets on Friday morning in the area of Jardinets de Gràcia, just north of one of the most iconic boulevards in the Catalan capital, Passeig de Gràcia.

In a statement, Barcelona's culture institute (ICUB) explained that producers Palman Pictures and Left Bank have informed that the shooting has been suspended for Friday.

Barcelona Film Commission, the local council's entity in charge of allowing shootings in the city's streets, also confirmed the news, insisting that as of Friday morning, only the sessions scheduled for Friday, but not so far for Saturday, have been suspended.

1997 Paris as setting

The setting included ads in French dating from 1997, the year Lady Di died in Paris, which increased speculation that the planned filming to depict the fatal car accident of the former wife of the new King of England, Charles III, in the French capital on August 30, 1997.

One of the signs still left on Friday morning advertised Jean Racine's play 'Bérénice', performed by the Compagnie Théâtrale Paris production company, running from June 3 to November 26, 1997.

Yet, around midday, little was left of the setting.

Shooting stopped 'out of respect'

Talking to the American media outlet specialized on the film industry Deadline Hollywood, the creator of the series, Peter Morgan, said on Thursday evening that he expected shootings "will stop filming out of respect."

"'The Crown' is a love letter to her and I’ve nothing to add for now, just silence and respect. I expect we will stop filming out of respect too," he added.