“The Crown” has finally revealed the first looks at Dominic West and Elizabeth Debicki in character as Prince Charles and Princess Diana for the show’s upcoming fifth season.
Though Debicki’s casting as Princess Di had been formally announced by Netflix, this is the first confirmation that West — who was reported to be in talks for the part of Charles — has officially joined the British royal family drama.
The pair will be taking over the portrayal of the couple from Emmy nominated actors Josh O’Connor (who played Charles in Seasons 3 and 4) and Emma Corrin (who joined the show as Diana Spencer in Season 4).
See Debicki and West in character in the photos at the bottom of this post.
“The Crown” Season 5 stars Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth II (you can see the first look at her in character here), playing the oldest version of the monarch we’ve seen after Claire Foy held the part in Seasons 1-2 and Olivia Colman for 3-4.
Other cast members include Lesley Manville, who is following in Helena Bonham Carter’s footsteps to play the older Princess Margaret, Jonathan Pryce as Prince Philip (a role held by Tobias Menzies in the third and fourth season) and Jonny Lee Miller, who will be playing former Prime Minister John Major.
It will be a while until you get to see all of these actors on screen. Though the fourth season of “The Crown” was released in November 2020, fans will be waiting until 2022 for Season 5, which is currently in production in the U.K. under strict COVID-19 safety protocols.
And then there will be just one more installment to go before the series comes to a close, as creator Peter Morgan announced last July the show would end with Season 6 (after previously revealing he had decided to conclude with Season 5).
“As we started to discuss the storylines for Series 5, it soon became clear that in order to do justice to the richness and complexity of the story we should go back to the original plan and do six seasons,” Morgan said in a statement at the time. “To be clear, Series 6 will not bring us any closer to present-day — it will simply enable us to cover the same period in greater detail.”
Season 4 of “The Crown” concluded with the queen (Colman) forbidding her son Prince Charles (O’Connor) from separating or divorcing Diana (Corrin). That season is up for 24 Primetime Emmy Awards at the ceremony this September.