The Crown season 5 is set to premiere on 9 November 2022, Netflix announced during the Tudum 2022 global fan event on 24 September.
The new season, therefore, comes just two months after the death of Queen Elizabeth II — whose life forms the core of the critically acclaimed series.
Netflix also shared a poster of the new season. It shows a crack developing on a wall and the corner of a gilded picture frame, hinting at some kind of trouble in the British royal family.
Season 4 of the series ended in 2020. While the anticipation for season 5 was already high among fans because of the success of the series, it particularly rose following the demise of the Queen, whose state funeral, attended by several of the world’s most powerful leaders, was one of the most significant events of 2022.
According to Variety, data analytics firm Whip Media found that, compared with the previous Friday-Sunday period, the UK viewership of the show jumped over 800 percent following the passing of the Queen on 8 September.
Cast, plot and all the details about The Crown season 5
New faces in prominent roles
An entirely new cast will take over key roles in The Crown season 5. Chief of them is Imelda Staunton, who succeeds Olivia Colman as Queen Elizabeth II.
In a special message for fans of The Crown, Staunton thanked Colman and Claire Foy, who played the young Queen Elizabeth II, as she took on the mantle.
“I’m delighted to be here inheriting the role of Queen Elizabeth from two outstanding actresses…I’ll do my utmost to maintain the very high standard that they set,” she said from the set of The Crown.
Jonathan Pryce takes on the role of Prince Philip, while Lesley Manville now steps into the role of Princess Margaret. Prime Minister John Major will be played by Jonny Lee Miller.
Dominic West and Elizabeth Debicki will appear as Prince Charles and Princess Diana, respectively.
The plot
According to Variety, season 5 is likely to follow the royal family in the turbulent years of the 1990s. This means that the focus will be on the marital troubles in the lives of Queen Elizabeth’s children — Prince Charles (now King Charles III), Prince Andrew and Princess Anne.
Yet, all eyes will be on the depiction of the much-publicised split between Prince Charles and Princess Diana in 1992 and the personal life of the latter.
A teaser aired during the Tudum 2022 event presented a tense moment in which both Prince Charles and Princess Diana are being scrutinised by the press following the announcement by Buckingham Palace that they are separating.
The footage shows the two preparing for what appears to be their respective interviews. “This is becoming…all-out war,” a voiceover states.
The teaser is yet to be separately released by Netflix on social media channels and YouTube.
A Variety report says that Salim Daw has been cast in the role of Mohamed Al-Fayed while Khalid Abdalla will play his son Dodi. It indicates that the makers will also show the tragic 1997 Paris car crash which killed Princess Diana along with Dodi. Amir El-Masry has been cast as a younger Mohamed Al-Fayed.
(Main image: IMDb; Featured image: © 2021 – Netflix/IMDb)
