The popular Netflix series The Crown returns on 17 November for its third season, complete with a new face for the British Monarch, as actress Claire Foy has been replaced by Olivia Colman to reflect Queen Elizabeth’s evolution into middle age-dom as her reign moves in the 1960s.
Still ever-present however are the jeweled tiaras and scepters, ball gowns, formal banquets and other trappings that make this series such a guilty pleasure for the would-be prince or princess in all of us.
To celebrate the launch of the third season, The Royal Champagne Hotel and Spa in Champagne, France is launching a regal package to appeal to fans of the House of Windsor. The new package includes two nights in the Royal Junior Suite, whose spacious outdoor furnished private balcony has panoramic views of the Unesco-certified vineyards, Hermès amenities and a lounge area with armchair and sofa. The stay also includes a chilled bottle of Champagne Bollinger upon arrival and a private tasting with hotel sommelier Daniel Pires of three cuvées of Bollinger. Bollinger was the first Champagne label to receive the Royal Warrant, bestowed by Queen Victoria in 1884.
“The royal affinity for this bubbly has been passed down from generations and now Bollinger is one of Queen Elizabeth’s most beloved houses,” says Jennifer Delord, marketing and sales director for the hotel. “Guests will taste the same bubbly that [she] loves, and set among our regal furnishings, can pretend that they too are part of the Mountbatten-Windsor family. (The longest-reigning monarch is purported to drink a flute of it each evening, which may partially account for her longevity.)
The package is rounded out with a Michelin-starred meal for two at the hotel’s restaurant Le Royal, a Royal Spa couple’s candle massage in the hotel’s 16,000-square-foot wellness space and afternoon tea by the fireplace with British pastries and accoutrements. All are lavish extravagances that Princess Margaret (played by Helena Bonham Carter) would also have certainly enjoyed. The Royal Champagne Hotel and Spa has been loved by monarchs since the days of Napoleon Delord points out, so staff over the years has become accustomed to welcoming guests in the aristocracy.
It’s all great indulgent fun to partake in such luxury for a few days. “‘The Crown’ gives a spectacular look into the lives of the Royal Family and leaves many viewers...wishing to live such an opulent existence,” Delord says. “Our new Royal Treatment package captures a bit of this gilded essence with many extravagant inclusions.”
