Who was Karen Smith? The Crown episode 3 dedication explained

17 November 2020, 15:56

Episode three contained a tribute to Karen Smith. Picture: Netflix

Episode three of The Crown is dedicated to the late Karen Smith, who worked on the Netflix show.

The Crown series four dropped on Netflix last Sunday (15 November), and is already proving a hit with viewers.

The new season is set in the 1980s, and Gillian Anderson and Emma Corrin have joined the cast as Margaret Thatcher and Princess Diana respectively.

If you're already a few episodes in, you will have noticed that the third episode - titled Fairytale - is dedicated to the late Karen Smith - a location manager who worked on the show.

The final credits of the episode read end with a tribute to Karen, with the dates 1968-2020.

Karen was in charge of picking out stunning filming locations for The Crown. Picture: Netflix

Who was Karen Smith?

Karen was a location manager on The Crown, and played a huge role in all four seasons of the show.

She has also worked on shows including My Mad Fat Diary, Deep State, Doctor Foster, Ashes to Ashes, Life in Squares, Whitechapel, Silk, Above Suspicion, and Silent Witness.

Karen also worked on film including The Sense of an Ending, Roald Dahl’s Esio Trot, Pride, Hancock & Joan.

Her role as a location manager meant that she was in charge of finding suitable locations for each scene, as well as securing permits from local authorities and acting as the liaison between cast, crew and local communities.

As The Crown is based on real events, the locations had to be in-keeping with these - and the show was filmed across the UK.

Olivia Colman recently opened up about how one of the best aspects of the job was visiting the various locations.

She said: "Wilton house was one of our favourites, and Somerleyton Hall was a new addition this year that we all adored. The people who lived and worked in these houses made all the difference to the feel of the place and how welcome we were all made to feel.

The Crown Season 4 | Official Trailer

"No easy task when 200 people turn up with lorries, lights, props, costumes, flowers etc. I did love it, whenever we weren’t needed, there was always someone, maybe an archivist nearby who could show us around and we would see some extraordinary paintings.

"That was one of my favourite things about the whole job - being able to go and look at these beautiful places and beautiful gardens, I love a little bit of history like that."

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