Everything You Need to Know About 'The Crown' Season 3

Claire Foy and Matt Smith’s work as Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip officially wrapped with the end of The Crown season two in December 2017. Get ready to welcome new faces, new (and true-ish) storylines to care about, and more money (for the new face behind the queen). Here’s what we know about The Crown season three so far:

1. The series will pick up right where season two left off, which places viewers in 1964. Following The Crown tradition, season three will span roughly a decade, from 1964 to 1976, during which Harold Wilson served as Prime Minister for two terms. In May 2018, Netflix confirmed that Wilson will be played by English actor Jason Watkins.

With season two ending with the birth of Elizabeth’s fourth child, Prince Edward, season three’s premiere could cover anything from Elizabeth and Margaret being photographed doing watersports by the paparazzi (July 1964) to the Queen’s visit to Prince Edward Island (October 1964) to her appearance at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London (November 1964), when she wore this gorgeous dark coral gown.

FYI: Season four will cover Margaret Thatcher’s post as Prime Minister, which began in 1979.

2. The downfall of Princess Margaret and Tony Armstrong-Jones’s marriage will likely be covered. As history tells us, Margaret and Tony were married for nearly two decades before separating in 1976. The couple, who were unfaithful to each other and had multiple lovers over the years, announced their divorce in 1978.

3. Queen Elizabeth II will be portrayed by Olivia Colman. In October 2017, Netflix announced that the royal torch for seasons three and four had been passed to Colman, whose most recent work includes Broadchurch and The Night Manager (the latter earned her a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress). In February 2018, Colman told Radio Times that Foy will be “a very hard act to follow.” Fun fact: Colman portrayed Queen Elizabeth (The Queen Mother) in the 2012 movie Hyde Park on Hudson.

On July 16, Netflix released the first official photo of Colman as QEII. Here she is having tea on the first episode of season three:

Patience. pic.twitter.com/7F2f2aBON3

4. Helena Bonham-Carter will be the new Princess Margaret. After weeks of speculation, Bonham-Carter’s casting was confirmed on Instagram by Vanessa Kirby, who played Margaret in the first two seasons. “Honoured,” Kirby captioned the photo. Same, TBH.

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Honoured @thecrownnetflix

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Honoured @thecrownnetflix

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Honoured @thecrownnetflix

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Honoured @thecrownnetflix

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On July 18, Netflix released the first official photo of the new Margaret, along with the caption, “Hope.”

Hope. pic.twitter.com/BFeE54Ro6C

5. Tony Armstrong-Jones will also look different. In June 2018, Netflix announced that Ben Daniels will take over the duty of playing Princess Margaret’s first husband. Daniels, who has a theater background, most recently played General Antoic Merrick in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Father Marcus Keane on The Exorcist TV series.

Here is Daniels as Tony.

Hurt. pic.twitter.com/MfN675kFwE

6. Tobias Menzies will take over Prince Philip duties. In March 2018, Deadline confirmed that Menzies had closed the deal to play Philip on seasons three and four, despite the fact that Paul Bettany had long been in talks to inherit the role from Matt Smith. Menzies has appeared on Outlander (Frank and Black Jack Randall), Rome (Brutus), and a little show named Game of Thrones (Edmure Tully). He’s also the Duke of Cornwall in the upcoming King Lear on the BBC.

On Aug. 28, Netflix revealed the first official photo of Menzies as Philip.

Ambition. pic.twitter.com/u2AVWK1u5c

7. Princess Anne will be played by newcomer Erin Doherty. Per The Hollywood Reporter, Netflix has cast the Call the Midwife actress to play Elizabeth and Philip’s only daughter. The Crown is Doherty’s third major show, along with the new BBC mini series adaptation of Les Misérables. (The cast includes Dominic West, David Oyelowo, Lily Collins, and the Queen herself, Olivia Colman.)

8. Camilla and a young Diana will be introduced. In April 2017, The Crown producer Suzanne Mackie confirmed at the BFI & Radio Times Television Festival that viewers will “start meeting Camilla Parker Bowles in season three,” which makes sense, considering she first met Prince Charles in the early ‘70s. Camilla and Charles married other people – Princess Diana (1981) and Andrew Parker Bowles (1973), respectively – before reuniting and tying the knot in a civil ceremony in 2005.

In October 2018, Netflix announced that British actress Emerald Fennell will play young Camilla.“I absolutely love Camilla, and am very grateful that my teenage years have well prepared me for playing a chain-smoking serial snigger with a pudding bowl hair cut,” Fennell said in a statement.

Fennell was most recently in the BBC series, Call the Midwife. Per Variety, she is also one of the head writers for season two of the Sandra Oh crime drama, Killing Eve.

9. There’s a new Charles in the palace. As Charles enters his late-teens on the show, Netflix has replaced actor Julian Baring with Josh O’Connor, who most recently appeared in the BBC series adaptation of Les Misérables.

Josh O’Connor will play Prince Charles in The Crown Season Three. pic.twitter.com/FHrqE2dQhA

In July 2018, Netflix also announced that actress Victoria Hamilton will be replaced by Marion Bailey in the role of the Queen Mother.

Marion Bailey will play the Queen Mother in The Crown Season Three. pic.twitter.com/T6JX2D8Qyg

10. The Crown will show its queen her money. Following the horrific news that Claire Foy was paid less than Matt Smith because of his Doctor Who fame, Mackie announced in March 2018 at the INTV Conference in Jerusalem, “Going forward, no one gets paid more than the Queen.”

11. Season three likely won’t air until 2019. With production set to begin in July 2018 (season three and four will be filmed back-to-back), Netflix probably won’t start rolling out new episodes until 2019, according to the BBC.

This post will be updated as more season three news is announced.

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