This is probably going to be the most dramatic season yet. With the clips released in the latest Season 5 trailer, The Crown is now heading down the most tumultuous time in the modern history of the monarchy: the death of Princess Diana.
What a season we are in for. Aside from the tragic passing of Queen Elizabeth II a few months ago, the 1990’s and early 2000’s must be the most consequential moments in recent English monarchy history.
There was so much turmoil around Britian during those days, such as a bad economy, the Iraq War and the global consequences of 9/11, the affairs by both Charles and Diana, the deaths of the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret, the burning of Windsor Castle, the BBC interview that Diana gave about Charles and the monarchy, the divorce of Charles and Diana, and, of course, the untimely death of Princess Diana herself.
And it seems like The Crown is going to cover it all.
The new castings of Elizabeth (Imelda Staunton), Philip (Jonathan Pryce), Margaret (Lesley Manville), Charles (Dominic West), and Diana (Elizabeth Debicki) all look amazing and have seamlessly transitioned right into the roles that their predecessors left us at the Christmas Party scene at the end Season 4. Well, they at least look the part in the trailer.
Obviously, I’m most excited to see how Elizabeth Debicki portrays the enigmatic Princess Diana in the final stages of her life. Not only was Diana a cultural icon that has defined the world ever since her marriage to now-King Charles III in 1981, but was also an extremely interesting “character” (for the lack of a better word) during this time of her life.
The struggles of going through a divorce, the challenges of an eating disorder, raising two children, finding a new job/lifestyle, and still maintaining the aura of invincibility that the monarchy has projected all of these long years will be sure to make for some great drama.
Plus, who can say no to having Princess Diana portrayed on screen again? She’s just that fascinating of a person.
Nonetheless, I’m also really looking forward to seeing how Dominic West and Imelda Stanton portray the past two monarchs of our lifetimes.
Both the late Queen Elizabeth and the now King Charles were going through extreme hardships then, with Elizabeth losing parts of her home to a fire and her mother and sister to sickness/old age, and Charles going through a divorce and losing his ex-wife to a tragic car crash, and it should be interesting to see how they deal with it behind the scenes. Actually, more like how the writers imagined they dealt with it.
(Netflix-The Crown-Season 5 Trailer)
Even though Olivia Coleman (Queen Elizabeth) and Josh O’ Connor (Prince Charles) were FANTASTIC as the two monarchs in the last two seasons, I think West and Stanton will be just as good.
In fact, I think Season 5 of The Crown might just very well be its best to date. I’m super excited to see it when it drops on Netflix November 9.
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