New Images for ‘The Crown’ Season 5

The new season will see another cast switch, with Jonathan Pryce, Dominic West and Elizabeth Debicki joining Staunton as the show’s timeline hits the 1990s.

Imelda Staunton in 'The Crown' Season 5. Photo: Netflix.

The real-life Royal Family have seen many changes through the years, most recently the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September.

And as happens every two seasons, there is change coming to the Netflix series that chronicles – with a blend of fact and fiction – their lives.

Season 5 sees the arrival of a whole new cast playing royals, some friends and lovers, and a new Prime Minister.

Imelda Staunton inherits the role of The Queen from Olivia Colman, while Jonathan Pryce is the new incumbent in the part of her husband, Prince Philip, following Tobias Menzies.

(L to R) Elizabeth Debicki, and Dominic West in 'The Crown' Season 5. Photo: Netflix.

Swapping in for Josh O’Connor and Emma Corrin as Prince Charles and Princess Diana are Dominic West and Elizabeth Debicki.

Teddy Hawley is Prince Harry and Timothee Sambor is Prince William, though because of the young princes aging more obviously than their elders, the roles of Harry and his brother will switch to Will Powell and Senan West (Dominic’s son) in later episodes.

Lesley Manville takes over as Princess Margaret (following Helena Bonham-Carter’s run), with Claudia Harrison as the new Princess Anne and Olivia Williams replacing Emerald Fennell as Charles’ lover (and future wife) Camilla Parker Bowles.

More tellingly, and presaging future tragedy, Salim Daw is playing Mohamed Al Fayed, who would romance Diana after her divorce, and Khalid Abdalla has the role of Dodi Fayed, his father.

Jonny Lee Miller in 'The Crown' Season 5. Photo: Netflix.

Perhaps most intriguing is the casting of Jonny Lee Miller as John Major, who succeeds Margaret Thatcher as Prime Minster. Largely seen as mild and stable (though later revealed to be wrapped up in private scandals), we would not have predicted that ‘Trainspotting’s Sick Boy would one day end up playing a man mocked as so bland that his puppet on satirical series ‘Spitting Image’ was gray.

The nineties were a particularly turbulent decade for the Royals, including the continued dissolution (and end) of Charles and Diana’s marriage. And the endless reportage and legacy writing about it was a handy resource for much of the cast as Elizabeth Debicki explained to Netflix’s TUDUM blog. “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.”

Dominic West, meanwhile, is keen to make clear that he and his fellow actors are not simply impersonating the royals. “I think people understand, because the cast has changed every two seasons, that this is not an imitation,” he says. “This is an evoking of a character.”

Yet for Imelda Staunton, the most pressing concern is that people are happy about her work as Her Majesty. “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!”