Fans of The Crown have a lot to look forward to when the royal series returns to Netflix — namely, a double dose of Princess Diana. With Season 4, which has yet to be released, we’ll finally see how newcomer Emma Corrin does as young Di. Even more notably, though, Netflix just announced they’ve cast the star who’ll play the Princess of Wales for the show’s final two seasons: Australian actress Elizabeth Debicki. And as much as we hate for the show end, we can’t wait to see what Diana-lookalike Debicki does with the role.
On Sunday, Netflix revealed the casting update on Twitter with a statement from Debicki. “Princess Diana’s spirit, her words and her actions live in the hearts of so many. It is my true privilege and honor to be joining this masterful series, which has had me absolutely hooked from episode one,” she said. Debicki will be jumping into an already stellar cast, including Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth (taking over for Olivia Colman), Jonathan Pryce as Prince Philip (taking over for Tobias Menzies) and Leslie Manville as Princess Margaret (taking over for Helena Bonham Carter).
Debicki got her breakout role in 2013’s The Great Gatsby, which she has since followed with roles in The Night Manager, the Guardians of the Galaxy series, The Cloverfield Paradox and more.
Elizabeth Debicki will play Princess Diana in the final two seasons of The Crown (Seasons 5 and 6). pic.twitter.com/Z3CjHuJ56B
— The Crown (@TheCrownNetflix) August 16, 2020
It’s unclear just how much of a role Diana will play in The Crown’s final two seasons, which will reportedly cover the time period up to the early 2000s. However, it’s thought that Debicki, in her capacity as the People’s Princess, will revisit Diana’s marriage to (and subsequent split from) Prince Charles. It’s also speculated the show will cover her death in a car crash in Paris in 1997.
This seems particularly likely given the fact the show won’t be ending with the fifth season after all. “As we started to discuss the storyline for Series 5, it soon became clear that in order to do justice to the richness and complexity of the story we should go back to the original plan and do six seasons,” creator Peter Morgan explained in July. He continued, adding a caveat, “To be clear, Series 6 will not bring us any closer to present day — it will simply enable us to cover the same period in greater detail.”
In other words, The Crown won’t be casting for reticent royal Meghan Markle. It won’t get to the period of time where Prince Harry and Prince William become husbands and fathers. But with Debicki’s casting, we can probably count on getting a unique perspective of the young brothers and their bond with their iconic mom before this series abdicates for good.
Before you go, click here to revisit photos of Princess Diana with Harry and William.
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