‘The Crown’ Photos Show the New Season 5 Princess Di, Prince Charles, and Queen Elizabeth

Netflix just released the first batch of photos from the upcoming fifth season of The Crown. The photos provide our first good look at Dominic West as Prince Charles and Elizabeth Debicki as Princess Diana as well as Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth II.

Season five also stars Jonathan Pryce as Prince Philip, Lesley Manville as Princess Margaret, Claudia Harrison as Princess Anne, Olivia Williams as Camilla Parker Bowles, Jonny Lee Miller as John Major, Salim Daw as Mohamed Al Fayed, and Khalid Abdalla as Dodi Fayed.

The 10-episode fifth season of the critically acclaimed, award-winning drama is set to premiere on November 9, 2022.

Commenting on the well-documented decade in the life of the People’s Princess, Elizabeth Debicki told Netflix’s Tudum, “That’s the amazing thing about playing these people at this time, because in the journey of The Crown so far out of all the seasons, this is the most visual content we have of the Royal Family. In the ‘90s everything had started to be filmed and also it was the birth of the 24-hour news cycle so there’s just this incredible amount of content that we have access to.”

“What has been nice, and I hope I don’t prove them wrong, is people saying, ‘I’m really looking forward to seeing her as the queen.’ So, let’s just hope that works out for them because I’ve done it. Nothing I can do about it now!,” stated Staunton.

Dominic West takes over the role of Prince Charles for season five. Josh O’Connor played Charles in seasons three and four, and won the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series at the 2021 Primetime Emmy Awards.

“I think people understand, because the cast has changed every two seasons, that this is not an imitation,” said West. “This is an evoking of a character. That’s really where the show lives: in the imagined conversations of their private life, which is something that no one knows. I think that’s what it gets a lot of criticism for. How can you know what they talk about in their private lives? The obvious answer is we don’t, but we have an incredible writer, a dramatist, who imagines based on exhaustive research, and that’s really part of the fascination of the show.”

The Crown was created by writer Peter Morgan. Morgan also executive produces along with Suzanne Mackie, Andy Harries, Stephen Daldry, Matthew Byam Shaw, Robert Fox, and Jessica Hobbs.

The Plot:

With the new decade in its stride, the Royal Family are presented with possibly their biggest challenge to date; as the public openly question their role in ’90s Britain.

As Queen Elizabeth II approaches the 40th anniversary of her accession, she reflects on a reign that has encompassed nine prime ministers, the advent of mass television and the twilight of the British Empire. Yet new challenges are on the horizon. The collapse of the Soviet Union and the transfer of sovereignty in Hong Kong signals a seismic shift in the international order presenting both obstacles and opportunities. Meanwhile, trouble is brewing closer to home.

Prince Charles pressures his mother to allow him to divorce Diana, presenting a constitutional crisis of the monarchy. Rumours circulate as husband and wife are seen to live increasingly separate lives and, as media scrutiny intensifies, Diana decides to take control of her own narrative, breaking with family protocol to publish a book that undermines public support for Charles and exposes the cracks in the House of Windsor.

Tensions are set to rise further as Mohamed Al Fayed arrives on the scene. Driven by his desire for acceptance of the highest order, he harnesses his self-made wealth and power to try and earn him and his son Dodi a seat at the royal table.