Who Will Get To Princess Diana’s Story First, ‘FEUD’ Or ‘The Crown’?

In the world of entertainment, it’s not uncommon for creators to experience instances of parallel thought. 2016 seemed to unofficially be the year of O.J. Simpson between the The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story and ESPN’s 30 for 30 series O.J.: Made in America. At the end of 2017, All the Money in the World became one of the most discussed films of the time, not for its portrayal of the Getty kidnapping, but because of Ridley Scott‘s decision to digitally replace Kevin Spacey with Christopher Plummer. Just a few months later, FX will be releasing its own Getty family drama starring Donald Sutherland, Trust. However, there’s one historical figure that’s destined to make an impact in 2018. Two major shows — FX’s FEUD and Netflix’s The Crown — have both announced they will be covering Princess Diana‘s story next. The only question is, who will get to the story first?

It makes sense that certain shows would now be considering a Princess Diana revival. Last year marked the 20-year anniversary of the beloved royal personality and philanthropist’s death. In the world of entertainment, this anniversary was marked by several documentaries about the late princess, but few were as moving as HBO’s Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy. The film featured footage of Prince William and Prince Harry speaking publicly and touchingly about their late mother for the first time on screen. However, there were no mainstream, fictionalized depictions of the people’s princess last year. Here’s everything we know about the two big Princess Diana-themed seasons of television on our horizon as well as our guess about which one will come first.

The Crown: Season 3

We currently don’t know very much about Netflix’s fictionalized take on Princess Diana. However, it seems as though the character will play a smaller role in this upcoming season. Because of the series’ decade-by-decade format, many were worried that The Crown wouldn’t get to Princess Diana’s story until Seasons 4 or 5. However, in an interview by People pegged to Season 2’s premiere, show creator Peter Morgan revealed that not only will Princess Diana be introduced in this new season, but she will be playing a major role in subsequent seasons. According to the People article, “For those asking, Princess Diana will be introduced toward the end of season three and will be heavily featured in the following two seasons.”

That would mean that this new season would likely take place at least partially in 1977, the year that Princess Diana met Prince Charles. So far, no one has been cast in the role. However, Olivia Colman is set to replace Claire Foy as Queen Elizabeth, and Helena Bonham Carter will be replacing Vanessa Kirby as Princess Margaret.

When will Season 3 of The Crown come out?

If past premieres can be trusted, The Crown we can likely expect Season 3 to premiere sometime in December. Since The Crown has been fairly predictable in its releases, December feels like a safe bet.

FEUD: Charles and Diana

One of the biggest and most depressing oversights of this past awards season was the lack of love for Ryan Murphy‘s most recent anthology series, FEUD, a show that explores some of the biggest rivalries throughout history. For its first season, FEUD explored the complicated relationship between Joan Crawford (Jessica Lange) and Bette Davis (Susan Sarandon), and for Season 2, FX and Murphy have announced they will be focusing on the divorce of Prince Charles and Princess Diana.

Not much in known about this new season of FEUD, but here’s what we do know. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the series will be 10 episodes long, will be co-written by both Murphy and  Jon Robin Baitz just like Season 1, and Murphy, Baitz as well as Plan B’s Dede Gardner and Alexis Martin Woodall will all executive produce the series. No one has been cast in the series so far.

So what exactly are the themes and focus of this new season? “So Charles and Diana’s story literally begins with the filing of the divorce papers. And it’s about that pain, the dissolving of a fairy tale, particularly for Diana,” Murphy said during a For Your Consideration panel for Emmy voters. “It starts with the filing of divorce papers and takes you up until her death.”

When will FEUD: Charles and Diana premiere?

At the moment, we don’t know the premiere date for this new season. However, here’s what we do know about Murphy’s universe of shows on FX. The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story is currently running on the network. The first season of Pose is set to premiere sometime in the summer of 2018, and new seasons of American Horror Story typically premieres in the fall. Based on the show’s lack of acknowledgement at TCA’s winter tour, I would guess the Charles and Diana season would premiere later in 2018 if it premieres in 2018 at all. FX has a history of delaying shows, particularity Murphy shows, if they’re not yet ready.

If everything is going according to plan, FEUD: Charles and Diana could possibly premiere before The Crown‘s December premiere date. If not, there’s always 2019.

Stream The Crown on Netflix

Where to stream FEUD: Bette and Joan