What is known about The Crown season 5 thus far?
Salute to the newest group of royals! The crowns and tiaras are once again being passed down to a new cast in The Crown season 5. Elizabeth Debicki, who shares an eerie likeness to Princess Diana, and Dominic West, who plays Prince Charles, have just been featured in their first official pictures for the Netflix drama. However, more recent set photos reveal more of the former. Imelda Staunton recently appeared on Netflix in the role of Queen Elizabeth II.
Two more seasons of The Crown are coming, starring all-new stars. The Season 5 cast also features Jonathan Pryce as the recently departed Prince Philip in addition to the three actors.
The Crown season 5 will move forward in time, just as previous installments have. It will cover the tumultuous 1990s, including the divorces of Prince Charles and Diana, Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson and Princess Anne and Mark Phillips.
The fourth season of The Crown debuted in November 2020 to glowing reviews for its portrayal of the courtship, marriage and growing conflict between Prince Charles (Josh O’Connor) and Diana Spencer (Emma Corrin). The two actors went on to win multiple awards for their performances.
And the fact that season 5 won’t be the final one will please fans of The Crown. The Crown season 6 will be the last episode of one of the finest Netflix programmes, according to creator Peter Morgan, who had been unsure whether he wanted to conclude the series until July 2020.
“As we started to talk about the plots for Series 5, it quickly became apparent that we should return to the original concept and complete six seasons in order to do credit to the richness and complexity of the tale,” he told Deadline. To be clear, Series 6 will only make it possible for us to explore the same time period in more depth rather than bringing us any closer to the present.
(So, don’t expect to see Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s courtship, wedding and subsequent exit from the royal family.)
Here’s everything we know so far about The Crown season 5.
The Crown season 5 release date confirmed
Netflix announced The Crown season 5’s release date at Netflix Tudum 2022. It’s coming out November 9, 2022. It began filming in July, according to Variety.
Filming on previous seasons lasted around seven months and then post-production took at least eight months. All four completed seasons of The Crown premiered in either November or December.
The Crown season 5 cast
The Crown changes its cast every two seasons, which means it’s time for a royal swap. Out goes Olivia Colman, in comes Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth II. Staunton is familiar to fans of Harry Potter and from the Downton Abbey movie.
Staunton recently told BBC Radio, “I think my sort of extra challenge, as if I needed it, is that I’m now doing the Queen that we’re a little more familiar with. With Claire Foy, it was almost history and now I’m playing one that people could say ‘she doesn’t do that,’ ‘she’s not like that,’ and that’s my personal bête noire.”
On July 30, Netflix released the first photo of Staunton as the queen:
Sadly, we only got one season of the fabulous Emma Corrin as Princess Diana, but the casting of Elizabeth Debicki (Tenet, Widows) is truly genius, as evidenced by this first look photo from Netflix:
As for Prince Charles, Josh O’Connor will be replaced by Dominic West (The Wire, The Affair). Here he is, looking quite glum and in his usual stance with one hand in his pocket:
Taking over the role of Prince Philip from Tobias Menzies is Jonathan Pryce (The Two Popes, Game of Thrones). The real Prince Philip died on April 9 at the age of 99.
We’ll miss Helena Bonham Carter’s boozy turn as Princess Margaret, but look forward to Lesley Manville (Phantom Thread) as the much-put-upon younger sister of the queen.
The feisty Princess Anne will be played by Claudia Harrison, taking over Erin Doherty. And actress Olivia Williams said in an interview that she’ll be the next Camilla Parker Bowles, memorably portrayed by Emerald Fennell last season.
No word yet on the casting of other major characters, including Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, Prince Edward, Sarah Ferguson and Prince Andrew (Netflix reportedly had problems finding someone to play the disgraced Duke of York).
The most recent major role to be cast is Prime Minister John Major, who served from 1990 to 1997. Major will be played by Jonny Lee Miller (formerly of Elementary).
Depending on season 5’s time period — see more on that below — we may also meet Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Other key figures who may appear in season 5 include the young Prince William and Prince Harry, Timothy Laurence (Princess Anne’s second husband) and Sophie Rhys-Jones (Prince Edward’s eventual wife).
The Crown season 5 time period and plot
The Crown season 5 is likely to take place in the 1990s, picking up where season 4 left off — with Charles and Diana’s marriage on the rocks.
The couple formally separated in 1992, which Queen Elizabeth II has called the “annus horribilis” (horrible year). That year also saw the separation of Prince Andrew and the Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson, as well as the official divorce of Princess Anne from Mark Phillips.
Charles and Diana’s split was already prime tabloid fodder, but it became even more of a circus after the publication of Andrew Morton’s book Diana: Her True Story. Diana herself taped revealing interviews for the tell-all tome.
That year also brought a devastating fire at Windsor Castle, one of the Queen’s primary residences.
As far as political and world events, John Major became Prime Minister, succeeding Margaret Thatcher. The UK faced a recession and a currency crisis dubbed “Black Wednesday.” They also joined U.S.-led forces to liberate Kuwait in Operation Desert Storm in 1991. The Northern Ireland peace process saw a ceasefire and, later, the Good Friday Agreement.
Major was PM until 1997, when Tony Blair took over, which would take The Crown up to Princess Diana’s tragic death in a car crash in Paris. That would give room for season 6 to cover the aftermath, the royal family’s much-criticized initial response and how they moved forward from Di’s death.
Since Morgan has said the show will not cover recent events, it’s unlikely that fans will get a fictionalized portrayal of the relationships between Prince William and Kate Middleton or Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
The Queen Mother and Princess Margaret passed away in 2002, thus we’re speculating that The Crown could also conclude in same year. In addition, it was the year of the Queen’s Golden Jubilee, which would complete the show’s journey from the coronation in season 1.