Who was Shay Leonard? The man who The Crown season six pays tribute to

At the end of episode two of part two of The Crown season six, a card comes up on the screen paying tribute to someone called Shay Leonard.

Episode six of The Crown season six is titled Ruritania, and focuses more on Queen Elizabeth following the death of Diana. At the end of the episode a tribute appears which reads: “In memoriam, Shay Leonard, 1970 – 2023.”

So you might be wondering who Shay Leonard was, and what impact they had on The Crown.

via Netflix

Who was Shay Leonard and what was his connection to The Crown?

Shay Leonard was a TV and film producer, director and also often worked in the art department on sets. He was best known for his work on Hot Fuzz, The Ghost, Sherlock Homes and Vampire Academy.

Across his career he had been in charge of working with the props for Netflix shows such as Anatomy of a Scandal, and The Crown. He worked in the props department on The Crown from 2017 to 2020.

Shay, who was originally from Dublin, passed away earlier this year. A tribute called him an “amazing father of Liam, gorgeous husband of Ekin”. It added he is “greatly missed by his family, father Jim Leonard, sisters Louise and Suzanne, brother-in-law Matt, sister-in-law Basak, mother-in-law Aydan, and nieces Jade, Anka and Umay.”

It seems Shay had been ill for around six months, before losing his battle to the illness. “Shay was a beautiful person, so kind, funny and caring,” another posts reads. “He will be missed by us all.”

The Crown season six is available on Netflix now. For all the latest Netflix news, drops, quizzes and memes like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook. 

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