The Crown - SEASON 5
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Meet The Crown season 5’s new cast: Imelda Staunton leads as Queen Elizabeth II

It's all change on the monarchy series.

It’s a changing of the guards on The Crown – with the entire cast getting turned over for season 5.

And with season four sweeping awards season, they have some pretty big shoes to fill.

Luckily, the incredible announcements makes it look like they’re on their way to doing just that.

Unfortunately, we’ll likely be waiting until November 2022 to see them in action.

In the meantime, here’s what you need to know about the new Royals in our lives.

Imelda Staunton
First look of Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth II (Credit: Netflix)

Who are the leading stars of The Crown season 5?

Queen Elizabeth – Imelda Staunton

Takes over from: Claire Foy (seasons one and two) and Olivia Colman (seasons three and four) 

Imelda Staunton is praised for her roles in Vera Drake, Shakespeare In Love, and Pride.

To millenials, she’s the woman we love to hate as Professor Umbridge in the Harry Potter series.

Prince Philip – Jonathan Pryce

Takes over from: Matt Smith (seasons one and two) and Tobias Menzies (seasons three and four) 

Jonathan Pryce is most known today as the High Sparrow in Game Of Thrones.

His other roles include Glengarry Glen Ross, and James Bond movie, Tomorrow Never Dies.

Dominic West as Prince Charles - The Crown
Prince Charles is deep in thought in the first look (Credit: Netflix)

Prince Charles – Dominic West

Takes over from: Josh O’Connor (seasons three and four) 

Dominic West shot to fame in gritty crime drama, The Wire, playing James ‘Jimmy’ McNulty.

He’s since appeared in The Pursuit of Love, Les Miserables, Stateless, and The Affair.

Princess Diana – Elizabeth Debicki

Takes over from: Emma Corrin (season four) 

Elizabeth Debicki is a 31-year-old Australian actress. She shot to fame in 2014’s The Great Gatsby alongside Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire.

In 2016, The Night Manager with Tom Hiddleston cemented her accomplishments as an actress.

Other film features include Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol.2 and Christopher Nolan’s Tenet.

Elizabeth Debicki as Princess Diana - The Crown series 5
A first look at Diana teases torment ahead (Credit: Netflix)

Camilla Parker-Bowles – Olivia Williams

Takes over from: Emerald Fennell (seasons three and four) 

Olivia Williams stars in several groundbreaking films. Most notably, she plays Bruce Willis’s wife in The Sixth Sense.

As well as this, she starred in Rushmore, An Education, Manhattan and The Halcyon.

She also had a one-off role in Friends as Joey’s ‘friends with benefits’ while he’s in London for Ross’s wedding.

Princess Margaret – Lesley Manville

Takes over from: Vanessa Kirby (seasons one and two) and Helena Bonham-Carter (seasons three and four) 

Lesley Manville is currently filming Dangerous Liasons and Magpie Murders as well as The Crown season 5.

She previously starred in Phantom Thread, TV series’ Harlots, Save Me and World on Fire.

Princess Anne – Claudia Harrison

Takes over from: Erin Doherty (seasons three and four) 

Claudia’s biggest roles to date include parts in Channel 4 drama Humans, and comedy The IT Crowd.

She is an associate teacher at RADA (the Royal Academy Of Dramatic Arts).

The Crown season 4 cast
The Crown’s previous cast will be completely replaced (Credit: Netflix)

Which new characters will be introduced in The Crown season 5?

As well as the main cast, there are new faces in the orbit of the main monarchy this season.

This includes…

Prime Minister John Major – Jonny Lee Miller

Jonny Lee Miller is a British actor best known for 90s films Hackers and Trainspotting.

Most recently, he completed a seven-season stint as Sherlock Holmes in crime procedural drama, Elementary.

John Major was a Conservative government leader from 1990 to 1997, taking over from Margaret Thatcher.

Prime Minister Tony Blair – Bertie Carvel

Bertie Carvel is an esteemed actor of stage and screen. He’s owner of two Olivier awards.

Previous screen roles include The Pale Horse, Babylon and Baghdad Central.

Labour leader Tony Blair will join The Crown around the period of 1997. It’s the year he becomes Prime Minister, and the year Princess Diana died.

Dodi Fayed – Khalid Abdalla

Khalid Abdalla star roles include parts in The Kite Runner, Assassin’s Creed and Hanna.

Dodi Fayed, the son of former Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed, started dating Diana in 1996.

He died in the Paris car crash that also killed the Princess in August 1997.

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Tilly Pearce
Contributing TV writer

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