Netflix Reveals First Look at Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth II in ‘The Crown’

“The Crown” has revealed its first look of its much-anticipated fifth season.

On Friday, the official Twitter account for “The Crown” posted a photo of Imelda Staunton in character as Queen Elizabeth II for the fifth season of the popular Netflix series.

“An early glimpse of our new Queen Elizabeth II, Imelda Staunton,” the tweet was captioned. Staunton channeled the Queen impeccably, wearing a yellow patterned dress suit fitted with a bow knot at the neck, complete with the royal’s signature hairstyle.

It was announced in January 2020 that Staunton, who is most famous for her role as Dolores Umbridge from the “Harry Potter” franchise, would play Queen Elizabeth for its fifth season.

“I have loved watching ‘The Crown’ from the very start,” Staunton said in a statement. “As an actor it was a joy to see how both Claire Foy and Olivia Colman brought something special and unique to Peter Morgan’s scripts. I am genuinely honored to be joining such an exceptional creative team and to be taking The Crown to its conclusion.”

Foy played Queen Elizabeth for the show’s first two seasons, with Academy Award winner Colman taking over the role for its third and fourth season. Foy and Colman received numerous accolades for their performances.

In July 2020, Peter Morgan, the show’s creator, announced he had changed his mind and decided to end the series after six seasons after his initial plan for five didn’t pan out. However, the show will not cover events that happened with the British royal family as of late, meaning the latest addition of Meghan Markle will most likely not be included.

“As we started to discuss the storylines 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,” Morgan said. “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.”

Starring alongside Staunton are Lesley Manville, Jonathan Pryce, Elizabeth Debicki and Jonny Lee Miller who will play Princess Margaret, Prince Philip, Princess Diana and Prime Minister John Major, respectively. Netflix has not yet announced who will play Prince Charles.

The upcoming season will explore the events that occurred in the ‘90s, judging from Major’s tenure as Prime Minister. Reportedly included in the storyline will be Princess Diana’s bombshell interview with BBC Panorama in 1995.

The latest season, which aired in November, received 24 Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Drama Series. According to Variety, filming for the fifth season began this month, which means its premiere will not be until sometime in 2022.

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