Here’s What to Expect from Season 5 of The Crown
Updated: Jan. 05, 2023
The details are out! Whether you’re a die-hard fan or a new viewer, this is what you need to know about The Crown Season 5—including when it premieres.
The Crown, Netflix’s award-winning series created by Peter Morgan, has spent four seasons providing us with a look at the inner workings of the British monarchy in the 20th century. It tells the story of the late Queen Elizabeth II, from her unexpected ascendancy to the throne in 1952 through the political and personal ramifications of her role as the sovereign. The show also wrings drama from key players in the royal family tree, and The Crown Season 5 will tackle what was undoubtedly one of the most controversial and dramatic decades for the royals, thanks primarily to Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s tumultuous marriage.
If you haven’t watched The Crown yet, you should. It is, without a doubt, one of the best shows on Netflix, even if it gets a few facts about the royal family wrong along the way. It boasts an impressive (and ever-changing) cast and engaging storytelling—both of which have helped it earn 21 Emmy Awards to date. Most notably, it swept the 2021 Emmys in all four major acting categories, with Olivia Colman (Best Actress), Josh O’Connor (Best Actor), Tobias Menzies (Best Supporting Actor) and Gillian Anderson (Best Supporting Actress) taking home the top prizes. In that same year, it also won for Outstanding Drama Series.
It’s been a little over a year since the show’s last new episodes aired, which means you’re probably more than a little impatient for the new season to premiere. To help tide you over until the big day, we’re answering all your burning questions about what’s to come in Season 5 and whether Season 6—which paused filming when Queen Elizabeth died—will tackle the death of the queen.
When will Season 5 of The Crown premiere on Netflix?
The Crown Season 5 will air on Nov. 9, 2022. News that the show would air in November 2022 was delivered in September 2021 by actress Imelda Staunton, the newest actress to assume the role of Queen Elizabeth II, in a video posted to official Netflix accounts. In the past, the streamer has dropped the entire season all at once, and we can likely expect the same for this one, so you can binge your heart out in a single weekend.
Who will play each member of the royal family?
The Crown‘s first season began in the late 1940s, introducing us to a young Elizabeth before she even ascended the throne. The series has, thus far, covered more than 40 years of her life, and as a result, it has employed three actors to portray the queen, starting with Claire Foy in the first and second seasons and Olivia Colman in the third and fourth. Imelda Staunton, who may be best known for her role as Dolores Umbridge in Harry Potter, will assume the role in the fifth and sixth seasons.
The role of Queen Elizabeth’s husband, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, was originated in the first two seasons by Dr. Who actor Matt Smith. Philip was then played by Emmy winner Tobias Menzies, and he will be played in the final two seasons by Jonathan Pryce.
The queen’s sister, Princess Margaret, has been played by Vanessa Kirby (in the first and second seasons) and Helena Bonham Carter (in the third and fourth seasons). Actress Lesley Manville will assume the role in the final two seasons.
The queen’s adult children began to appear in the show during Season 3, and the show heavily featured the tumultuous marriage between Charles (played by Josh O’Connor) and Diana (played by Emma Corrin). Actors Dominic West and Elizabeth Debicki will take over for O’Connor and Corrin, respectively, in the fifth and sixth seasons.
Gillian Anderson, who played Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher during the show’s fourth season, will not return to the series in the fifth or sixth seasons. See how The Crown‘s actors compare to their real-life counterparts in side-by-side photos.
Who will play Camilla in The Crown Season 5?
English actress Olivia Williams will play Camilla Parker Bowles in The Crown Season 5. Williams has starred in films including The Postman, Rushmore and The Sixth Sense, and she has been a series regular on HBO’s The Nevers and the Starz series Counterpart. In case you need a refresher, Emerald Fennell portrayed Bowles (who was previously referred to by her maiden name, Camilla Shand) in the third and fourth seasons.
While we may never know all the details about Charles and Camilla’s relationship timeline, one of the facts about Charles that the show does get right is that his relationship with Camilla began well before he met Diana. Of course, that makes for an awkward love triangle on screen, just as it once did off screen.
Who will play Diana in The Crown Season 5?
There is no doubt that portraying Diana, the beloved Princess of Wales, is a big job. Photos of Princess Diana and her legendary interviews give us a glimpse into her personality, but the actresses who play her have a daunting task getting her mannerisms and demeanor just right. Previously, Diana was played by Emma Corrin, who won a Golden Globe for portraying the young woman plucked from obscurity to marry the prince.
In Season 5, Diana will be played by Elizabeth Debicki, an Australian actress you might recognize from her role as Ayesha, the golden queen, in Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2. She has also appeared in the films Tenet and Widows, and she had a recurring role in the AMC series The Night Manager.
What period in history will Season 5 of The Crown cover?
Each season of The Crown has typically spanned about a decade, with the most recent season covering the 1980s. The fifth and sixth seasons will be a little different, and each will only cover a few years.
As the Season 5 trailer highlights, Season 5 will begin at the start of the 1990s, which was an era filled with drama for Charles and Diana. In 1992, the couple separated, and in August 1996, they finally divorced. Just a year later, Princess Diana’s death shocked the world.
Will there be Season 6 of The Crown?
If you’ve been reading this article closely, you already know the answer to this: Yes, there will be a sixth season. What you might not know, however, is that Season 6 will be the show’s last. As Morgan explained, “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.”
The new season is currently in the works, though filming was suspended the day after the queen passed away. (The plan for this was put in place when the show was created; director Stephen Daldry even remarked on it back in 2016.) As Morgan said, the series is “a love letter to her,” and production stopped out of respect. Production also shut down on Sept. 19, 2022, as the world said goodbye to Britain’s longest-reigning monarch during her funeral.
Will Season 6 of The Crown cover Queen Elizabeth’s death?
The Crown creators haven’t discussed whether Queen Elizabeth’s death will play out on screen, but it’s unlikely. As Morgan said in 2020, “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.”
Since we don’t yet know, chronologically, when Season 5 will end, it’s possible that some of the most devastating moments the royals have endured, like Diana’s fatal car accident and funeral, may not be covered until the show’s final season. If that’s the case, viewers probably won’t see the death of the queen or the ascension of Charles to king in the show.
Sources:
- Deadline: “The Crown Will Run for Six Seasons After Peter Morgan Changes Mind on Finale”
- Deadline: “The Crown’s Peter Morgan Calls Drama Series ‘A Love Letter’ to Queen Elizabeth; Netflix Confirms Production Pause – Update”
- Variety: “The Crown Season 6 Officially Suspends Production Following Queen Elizabeth II’s Death”
Originally Published: July 07, 2022
