The Crown will end with Season 6, Netflix has confirmed.

The royal drama, which charts the life and reign of Her Maj, has been a hit for the streaming giant, picking up awards and nominations galore. That continued even with Season 3, which saw Olivia Colman and Tobias Menzies take over from Claire Foy and Matt Smith as Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip – joined by Helena Bonham Carter as Princess Margaret (replacing Vanessa Kirby) and Josh O’Connor as Prince Charles.

At the beginning of the year, Netflix confirmed that Imelda Staunton would take over from Colman in the lead role for the fifth and final run of the show. Now, after Lesley Manville has been confirmed to play Princess Margaret, Netflix has revealed that will actually be six seasons of the show, rather than the initially planned five.

Writer and creator Peter Morgan said: “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.”

That means you can expect two seasons with Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth, after the upcoming fourth run starring Olivia Colman.

Lesley Manville play Princess Margaret in The Crown Season 5

2nd July 2020

Lesley Manville will officially play Princes Margaret in Season of The Crown.

Netflix’s royal drama, which charts the life and reign of Her Maj, has been a hit for the streaming giant, picking up awards and nominations galore. That continued even with Season 3, which saw Olivia Colman and Tobias Menzies take over from Claire Foy and Matt Smith as Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip – joined by Helena Bonham Carter as Princess Margaret (replacing Vanessa Kirby) and Josh O’Connor as Prince Charles.

At the beginning of the year, Netflix confirmed that Imelda Staunton would take over from Colman in the lead role for the fifth and final run of the show. Now, we know that she’ll be accompanied by another screen icon, with Mum, Vera Drake and Phantom Thread star Lesley Manville to take on the role of Elizabeth’s sister.

“I could not be happier to be playing Princess Margaret,” she said in a statement. “The baton is being passed on from two formidable actresses and I really don’t want to let the side down. Furthermore, to play siblings with my dear friend Imelda Staunton will be nothing short of a complete joy.”

Imelda Staunton to star in The Crown’s fifth and final season

31st January 2020

Imelda Staunton will officially take over The Crown from Olivia Colman for the show’s fifth season.

Netflix’s royal drama, which charts the life and reign of Her Maj, has been a hit for the streaming giant, picking up awards and nominations galore. That continued even with Season 3, which saw Olivia Colman and Tobias Menzies take over from Claire Foy and Matt Smith as Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip – joined by Helena Bonham Carter as Princess Margaret (replacing Vanessa Kirby) and Josh O’Connor as Prince Charles.

They will stay in place for Season 4, but then Olivia’s reign will end and Imelda’s will begin. The move continues the show’s tradition of reshuffling its cast to portray the royal family as they grow older without the need for prosthetics.

“I have loved watching The Crown from the very start,” said Staunton in a statement. “As an actor it was a joy to see how both Claire Foy and Olivia Colman brought something special and unique to Peter Morgan’s scripts. I am genuinely honoured to be joining such an exceptional creative team.”

Those hoping Staunton might steer the show into the modern era, where it could tackle Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s marriage and the scandal surrounding Prince Andrew’s friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, however, will be disappointed: the fifth season of The Crown is also set to be its last.

Creator and showrunner Peter Morgan said in a statement: “At the outset I had imagined The Crown running for six seasons but now that we have begun work on the stories for season five it has become clear to me that this is the perfect time and place to stop. I’m grateful to Netflix and Sony for supporting me in this decision.”

Netflix recently revealed that more than 21 million households chose to watch Season 3 in its first four weeks, up more than 40 per cent from Season 2 over the same time period. According to Netflix, more than 73 million households worldwide have chosen to watch The Crown to date.

Imelda Staunton next in line for The Crown

22nd November 2019

Imelda Staunton will reportedly replace Olivia Colman as the Queen in The Crown after her reign is over.

Netflix’s lavish royal drama, which charts the life and reign of Her Maj, has been a huge smash hit for the streaming giant, picking up awards and nominations galore. That’s partly thanks to the cast, with national treasure Olivia Colman and Tobias Menzies recently taking over from Claire Foy and Matt Smith as Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip for Season 3 – joined by Helena Bonham Carter as Princess Margaret (replacing Vanessa Kirby) and Josh O’Connor as Prince Charles.

That process of recasting is integral to the show’s decades-spanning scale, with each new wave of actors allowing the characters to age without prosthetics or digital effects. Colman et al. will reprise their roles once again in Season 4, but The Daily Mail reports that Colman’s replacement has already been found: Imelda Staunton.

If true, the 63-year-old actor will play Queen Liz for Season 5 and 6. It would only add to the range of roles the Oscar nominee has had over her diverse career, from working class hero Vera Drake and the imperious Dolores Umbridge in the Harry Potter films to Mrs Lovett in Sweeney Todd on London’s West End – next year, she will take the lead in another stage production, Hello, Dolly!. Staunton is no stranger to the small screen, though, having appeared in Psychoville, Cranford and, most recently, A Confession on ITV.

Netflix has not yet confirmed her casting officially, but rumours of Helena Bonham Carter’s casting for Season 3 proved to be true, so take this with a pinch of salt, but only a small pinch.