Netflix released new photos from Season 5 of The Crown! We’ve got some good looks at Elizabeth Debicki as Princess Diana, Lesley Manville as Princess Margaret, Imelda Staunton as QEII, Jonathan Pryce as Prince Philip, Jonny Lee Miller as John Major and Olivia Williams as Camilla. Oh, and Dominic West as Charles. There are some people who are possibly miscast, namely Imelda and Dominic, but I can safely say that Debicki is basically the only actress of her generation who can pull off Diana-in-the-90s. Maybe Joely Richardson could have played Diana at some point, years ago, but I really think Debicki is going to nail this.
I’m also in love with Jonny Lee Miller as John Major. I love JLM anyway – a very underrated actor and an underrated hottie. I’m shocked at how good he looks in John Major drag. It’s a rare thing for The Crown’s hair-and-makeup people to get a wig that looks that good. Olivia Williams is really bringing out her horsey best as Camilla too, and I love that they released a photo where it looks like both Camilla and Charles are neighing.
The Daily Mail’s Jan Moir was latest columnist tasked with writing a screed against the “gross intrusion” of The Crown, an intrusion specifically for Prince William and Prince Harry. Of course Moir takes the obvious turn of “Harry spoke about how emotionally damaging it was to walk behind his mother’s coffin” into “how dare Harry not single-handedly shut down The Crown to save his mother’s reputation!” I don’t know how to break it to you guys, but absolutely none of these people – not Moir, not Dan Wootton, not Richard Kay, none of them – actually care about whether another dramatization of the royal family will be hurtful or harmful to Harry. They’re using Harry’s Netflix contract as a feint because King Charles is incandescent with rage about The Crown. It’s as simple as that. Again, if Charles doesn’t want people to be reminded of all of the sh-t he did and said against Diana, he probably shouldn’t have done it in the first place.
The Crown season 5 premieres on November 9th. YAY!
Photos courtesy of Netflix/The Crown.
Charles didn’t have all this energy when, seasons 1-3, were favorable to the Crown. Especially season 3 that depicted him as a soft hearted young man, who was misunderstood by his family.
What I cannot wait for is seeing Dominic West play Charles. In the looks department, they were generous to Charles, but no one can play an adulterous jerk like Dominic. I cannot wait for November 9!
Your last line is perfect. Between the announcement of his casting where I went “No way Chuck is a chode and this Dominic west guy is grey sweats!” and now I watched The Wire for the first time and now I see exactly why West was cast.
Watch The Affair as well. Whew! After Dominic is done with Charles, he will be in fits. It will be as bad as he fears.
West plays sleazy and entitled extremely well. That is all. 🙃🙃
Also, The Hour. Sleazy & entitled is his bread & butter.
And Mona Lisa Smile, which is where I first saw him. Jeez, he _has_ essayed a lot of charm-school creeps, hasn’t he?🙃🙃
Dominic is 53. Seems old to be playing Charles.
Well Chucky has the sex appeal of a wet tampon, so I think they did him a favor casting West. Sleazy as he is he does have a certain energy.
“no one can play an adulterous jerk like Dominic” — art imitating life!
I must be the only person in the world who has Netflix but never watched an episode of The Crown. I know! (To be fair, I haven’t really watched anything on Netflix…) Are the other four seasons still on there? I somehow need to catch up before season five starts. The Diana period was what made people take a deeper interest in the British Royal family. As far as scandal and gossip were concerned, nothing could top this. No wonder Charles is angry. They handled things very,- very badly at the time. What is worse is that they haven’t learned a damned thing since.
Yes, all seasons are there. It’s really well done, gives more understanding as to who they are and their limitations.
@AnnaKist – yes all the seasons are there. It’s a Netflix series, so they won’t be sunsetting that anytime soon. The only season I watched was the one introducing Princess Diana, tbh. I will tune in for this season too.
@Annakist … It’s worth it to watch all four seasons to get a feel for the thick bubble encasing the Windsors. The series doesn’t shy away from their pettiness and sense of entitlement either. You also get a sense of exactly how much power the Palace aides and courtiers have and wield.
A few things became apparent to me after (finally) binging all four seasons during the COVID pandemic. For instance, despite the fact that Elizabeth’s father, King George VI, smoked like a chimney throughout his life the Queen Mother blamed Elizabeth’s uncle, King Edward VII and his abdication, for her husband’s death and she evidently hated him with the fire of a million suns.
@Annakist, Same here! I’m honestly more interested in period pieces about the royals. I haven’t forgotten a thing that Chuck did to Diana and don’t really want to relive it. I am recovering from hip replacement surgery and thinking maybe now is the time I will give it a shot.
@duchess I watched them all but thought the first 3 seasons were pretty boring so you picked a good place to start in my opinion!
I cannot wait!!!!!!!!! I was telling my mom about how King Up-chuck is against this story being told and she laughed and said: I bet!!! No one wants to be reminded of their dirty deeds – especially when you aren’t that well liked to begin with (she is from Europe but HATES any monarchy what-so-ever). Chuck can’t whitewash his dirty deeds – some of us still know the story from both of their view points. And Personally, I am spiteful, so I relish all his angst at this being released. Gotta love karma.
Spite is my guilty pleasure. I hope this season makes him squirm.
And he deserves every agonizing minute.
I cannot wait. I bet he isn’t happy – all his dirty deeds back out in the open. Baw hahaha. I do not feel sorry for him – one bit. Karma is WONDEFUL. He cannot whitewash his history – many of us still recall the stories and recall seeing and hearing them from Chuck and from Diana. And no amount of money can erase it.
The Fail (on Chuck’s behalf I bet) was whining about a scene in which Chuck and Major was talking about pulling the queen off the throne. Major came out and said the science wasn’t true. Some things in the Crown is dramatized and some things are true. I call this Meghan’s Revenge. Let’s how the BRF like having fiction out there taken as fact.
I love JLM too and it’s weird seeing him now as an older man in a gray wig! Time marches on.
I said in another article I was impressed with the Diana hair / wig – this is the first depiction that even comes close to the volume she had.
I’m just loving the outrage from the press and Palace about the new season.
Me too. I want to see some teeth gnashing, and veins visible on foreheads.
I know Harry’s said that The Crown is fiction, yet captures the broader strokes of the truth/history. In his heart of hearts, I strongly doubt he has any desire for it to be shut down because it’s going to vindicate his beloved mother and show how vile and vicious the BM was and is — NOT THAT HE COULD shut it down. Again, this is not how business works, Moir/Seward/Wootton/Eden/Kay/and the rest of the 🐀🐀🐀. Netflix is listening to the deafening cha-ching from the massive FREE marketing The Crown is getting from CIII’s wee army of 🤡🤡🤡.
“It’s a rare thing for The Crown’s hair-and-makeup people to get a wig that looks that good.”
That drives me crazy – the same thing happened on GOT. How can drag queens get their wigs to look better than stylists with HBO money!?
Hey @Colby, good wigs are very, very expensive. Think thousands of dollars. They eat up a costume department budget very quickly, especially if multiple people wear wigs. It’s much cheaper to pretend that a bad wig is doing a good job.
I don’t know if it’s me, but all I see is Dolores Umbridge in Queen Elizabeth drag!
Same! I wonder if it was intentional to make us loathe the Queen this season.
OMG this cast. JLM is a nice surprise. Even though he won’t be bringing the hotness to this role I’m excited to see him. Lesley Manville, mygawd. She’s brilliant in Sherwood. I’m on the verge of tears just thinking about it (I sobbed through the last two episodes.)
I’m in my 50s and remember lots about the royal family, Margaret thatcher, the growing pressure on Charles to find the right bride, the delight that Diana brought everywhere, watched it all fall apart. And the thing is I think The Crown treats them well. there’s sympathy and nuance for these people trapped in a guilded cage, for a family that has a superimposed hierarchy. But Charles’ panic is bringing so much attention to his poor character and Camilla’s part, God if he’s not going to apologize he really really needs to stop talking about this
You nailed it. ITA that the Crown isn’t working an angle. And it absolutely humanizes QE2. Charles comes across as insecure and vindictive because …
Oh I can’t wait either! Really want a trailer soon but I wonder if they’ll do a last minute one because Netflix believes the show will basically market itself just fine without one.
Imelda doesn’t seem to capture my attention as much as the earlier Queens. Even onscreen, Diana is still getting the attention. We’ll see how the script goes and if Imelda will fade into the background. I can’t unsee Umbridge but I’ll still watch.
I miss Diana. Am thinking of her last few years and how H feels as the character nears her death. Yes this is not the first time Diana is played onscreen but Debicki is hauntingly captivating in stills here.
I think the miscast falls mostly on Dominic and Jonathan Price. Imelda Staunton looks like the elder Queen Elizabeth, plus she has a high-pitched voice just like her. She’ll be fabulous. On the other hand, Price as the ever zesty Philip? Think again.
I love JP though so I’m just going to wait and see what he does with the role.
Charles Dance as Prince Philip would have been an amazing choice.
It would be amazing if season 6 would focus an entire episode of Kate and the Middletons scheming to meet William and that duplicity
I can already picture the howls from bucklebury 😈
If the show goes on, I’ve always thought that Natalie Dormer would make a good Kate Middleton.
West definitely doesn’t look the part but I think he’ll nail it nonetheless. He’s a very good actor and he can play whiny adulterer like a champ. I watched “The Affair.”
Manville is a wonderful actress. I have high hopes for her as Margaret. If she does as well as I hope/expect, they really will have nailed the Margaret trifecta of actresses.
I’m not sure about Staunton. I didn’t really watched the HP films past the first one. I imagine she’ll be fine. I honestly didn’t think Olivia Coleman was great but she was good enough and that sufficed. Pryce is a fine actor. I hope he’ll be saucy enough as Philip.
I cannot wait for ED as Diana! So excited for this season.
I realize that time rolls on, but I am really going to miss Gillian Anderson. She was fantastic. The hairspraying! IIRC, she said in an interview that the show actually went rather easy on the BRF and could have been much worse. Heheheheheheh.
Charles got what he wanted but he is never satisfied. The bots are out now in some comments section bragging about canceling subscriptions. It gets more and more absurd.
I can’t wait! Charles is such a scumbag and he deserves to be dragged.
Chuckles and his team of gold standard experts are losing the plot. Someone needs to explain the Streisand effect to them.
What annoys me is that they’ve added ridiculous made up plots- Charles and John Major plotting to remove the Queen?
Poor John Major is crying all over the press.
There are many verifiable facts that they could have stuck to, I don’t like the idea that they need to invent dramatic storylines.
Obviously the show is fiction, but still.