Queen’s devastation at Windsor fire shown in The Crown

The late-Queen famously described the year of 1992 as her ‘annus horribilis’ meaning ‘horrible year’ following a devastating fire at Windsor Castle and a year of scandal for The Firm. The marriages of Prince Charles and Princess Diana, Prince Andrew and the Duchess of York, and Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips all ended in 1992, some with divorce and others with an announcement of separation which later concluded in divorce.The fire at the Queen’s beloved Windsor Castle in November 1992 rounded off the Queen’s terrible year.The new series of The Crown is set to be its most controversial with its depiction of Princess Diana’s mental health struggles, separation from Prince Charles and tragic death.However, teaser clips and photographs for the fifth season depict the Queen, played by Imelda Staunton, watching the blaze at Windsor with tears in her eyes.Queen Elizabeth is shown standing in the ruins of her residence at times alone and in shock and at others being comforted by her husband Prince Philip.On November 20, the fire at the Castle was started by a faulty light in Queen Victoria’s private chapel which ignited a curtain and spread to St George’s Hall next door and Brunswick Tower. The Queen spoke of the sad year for the Royal Family during a speech (Image: Getty) The fire took 15 hours to put out (Image: Getty)By the afternoon, the floors of the Tower had been entirely destroyed and had collapsed.By 18:30pm, the tower was entirely engulfed in flames which were reaching terrifying highs of 15 metres and St George’s Hall also collapsed.The blaze roared for 15 hours and destroyed 115 rooms which took five years to be fully restored.The fire caused £36million worth of damage and destroyed some valuable artefacts belonging to the Royal Family despite Prince Andrews’ efforts at the time.The Duke of York was the only royal present at the time of the fire, and he organised the staff to save precious belongings to the royals by creating a human chain.READ MORE: King Charles shares tip for the perfect roast potatoes The Queen was visibly shaken when shown the damage of the fire (Image: Getty) Millions of pounds worth of damage was caused by the fire (Image: Getty)The fire was noticed around 11:30am and in within three hours the blaze was being tackled by 225 firemen from seven counties.Prince Andrew phoned the Queen to inform her of the fire and when she was shown the charred ruins of part of her residence, the monarch appeared visibly shaken.Her Majesty had been celebrating her 45th wedding anniversary with Prince Philip at the time of the incident.The scenes for The Crown were recreated at Burghley House near Stamford in Lincolnshire while the burnt ruins were filmed at Elstree film studios.DON’T MISS: Investors to relish political gridlock in US after midterms (INSIGHT)Russia gives Iran seized British weapons (REVEAL)Mississippi election websites attacked by Russian hackers (REVEAL) The Queen’s eldest three children all had failed marriages in 1992 (Image: Getty)The scene took over two days to film with approximately 60 extras taking on the roles of the firemen and soldiers who formed part of the human chain to get valuables to safety.When the late-Queen gave a speech marking her forty years on the throne, she said: ‘1992 is not a year on which I shall look back with undiluted pleasure.’In the worlds of one of my more sympathetic correspondents, it has turned out to be an annus horribilis.’