Air date
Hypable is reporting The Crown Season 3 will premiere globally on Netflix on Sunday, November 17, citing a since-deleted Entertainment Weekly article breaking the news. This tracks with previous reports about the new season; Tobias Menzies, who portrays Prince Philip in the third season, revealed the show will return in November while speaking on Jo Good's BBC show.
Deadline reported in April that Netflix revealed to investors that the new season would premiere after July 1, 2019. Additionally, Erin Doherty, who will play Princess Anne in Seasons 3 and 4, told the Irish Times that she thinks the new season will be released in the fall.
The Plot
Show-runner Peter Morgan is not giving anything away just yet, but history tells us that if the third season does indeed take us from ’64-’70, will see the monarch cultivating her steadiest relationship with a Prime Minister yet in Harold Wilson, who served as head of the British government during this period.
Filming began in July 2018, and Olivia Colman confirmed at the Oscars that principal filming had finished in February 2019 – although she was still working on reshoots.
“We’ve just finished season three a week ago, and when I go back I’ve got to do some reshoots” she said in an interview following her Oscar win. “We start again with season four in August.”
Tobias Menzies revealed to the RadioTimes that the series will include an episode on the Apollo 11 moon landing, and how Prince Philip reacted to the momentous event in history.
“We’ve just been shooting a really interesting episode which was all tied into the moon landings in ’69,” he revealed.
The Cast
The show has been entirely recast. In October 2017, Variety confirmed Olivia Colman will play Queen Elizabeth II for Seasons 3 and 4. Claire Foy originated the role for Seasons 1 and 2 and confirmed to Vulture back in December 2016 that the entire original cast of the series would be replaced.
The showrunners also confirmed that Princess Diana will make her first appearance in the final episodes of season three. The People’s Princess will be the central figure of seasons four and five. Producer Suzanne Mackie also shed some light on how Prince Charles’ courtship with Diana will play out in season three, “we start meeting Camilla Parker Bowles in season three.
"We have to be honest, season three and four are being mapped out and the closer the history comes – I now can say, 'God, I know exactly what I was feeling when that happened, I remember that and I remember this.' That's so exciting!"
Emerald Fennell was confirmed as the role of Camilla Parker-Bowles. "I absolutely love Camilla, and am very grateful that my teenage years have well-prepared me for playing a chain-smoking serial snogger with a pudding bowl haircut," Fennell said in a statement.
Tobias Menzies will portray Prince Phillip in season three, The Outlander star has signed on for the next two seasons, and begins shooting this June in the UK, confirms Deadline. Menzies will take over the role from Matt Smith.
Helena Bonham Carter is also confirmed to replace Vanessa Kirby as Princess Margaret. Photos from the set of Season 3 indicate Game of Thrones alum Charles Dance has joined the show, though Netflix has not announced his casting. Digital Spy reports that Dance will actually play Lord Louis Mountbatten, Prince Philip's uncle. He was very close to Philip and Prince Charles, who called him "Uncle Dickie," and was played by Greg Wise in Seasons 1 and 2 of The Crown.
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WATCH: The First Look At The Crown Season 3.
Scroll to meet more of the cast of The Crown Season 3
Ben Daniels will play Antony Armstrong-Jones, Lord Snowdon.
Erin Doherty will play Princess Anne.
Olivia Colman will play Queen Elizabeth II.
Tobias Menzies will play Prince Philip.
Helena Bonham Carter will play Princess Margaret.