New images from the upcoming series of The Crown reveal the young actors playing Prince William and Prince Harry, alongside stars Dominic West and Elizabeth Debicki channelling Charles and Diana.
Netflix temporarily halted filming of the fifth season of its lavish royal drama following the Queen‘s death and on the day of her funeral, but the new series, covering the 1990s, is set to launch as planned on 9 November.
In the latest photographs to be released, 32-year-old Australian actress Debicki can be seen portraying Diana on a small boat alongside West’s Charles and the young princes, played by Teddy Hawley and Timothee Sambor.
The Crown‘s new images also show Trainspotting star Jonny Lee Miller’s transformation into Prime Minister John Major, as well another look at Imelda Staunton as the Queen – a role previously played by Claire Foy and Olivia Colman – and Jonathan Pryce as Prince Philip.
Debicki, best known for The Night Manager and Tenet, took over the role of Diana from Emma Corrin. She said the show moving into the ’90s helped with her research into the princess.
“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,” she told Netflix website Tudum.
“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.
“Diana was the most photographed person in the world at that time. As an actor, you open the portal and this huge tsunami of information comes at you. I happily swam around in it.”
In one photo, Debicki embodies a reserved Diana wearing a sparkling blue halter-neck dress – the spitting image of a dress the princess wore to a Serpentine Gallery fundraising gala hosted by Vanity Fair magazine in 1995.
Another new picture hints at the development in the storyline surrounding Charles and Diana’s collapsing marriage, showing The Wire and The Affair star West, 52, as the prince at what appears to be a fireworks display, looking happy alongside a cheerful looking Camilla (Olivia Williams).
Other pictures show Lesley Manville as Princess Margaret – a role she took over from Helena Bonham Carter – and Claudia Harrison as Princess Anne.
A previous teaser for the series has shown Diana preparing for her infamous interview with the BBC’s Martin Bashir the subject of much controversy, with a report in 2021 finding that the BBC covered up “deceitful behaviour” used by the journalist to secure the exclusive.
Read more on The Crown:
Prince William and Kate will be played by actors making their TV debuts
The Crown’s series four Diana: ‘I try not to think if Harry and William might watch’
Affair storyline ‘nonsense’, says Queen’s ex-press secretary
The Crown was due to end after the fifth series, but the show’s creator and writer Peter Morgan later said it would be extended to include a sixth.
The fifth series of The Crown launches on Netflix on 9 November