Everything We Know About ‘The Crown’ Season 5 So Far: Cast, Premiere, And More

The Crown Season 4 has finally delivered the gossipy, scandalous season we’ve been waiting years for, shining the spotlight on Princess Diana (Emma Corrin) and her troubled marriage to Prince Charles (Josh O’Connor), plus the changes in England as the country welcomes Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (Gillian Anderson).

The latest season of Netflix‘s British drama has been especially popular here at Decider, where it’s been called “the best [season] yet,” and that’s in a large part due to Corrin, who Decider’s Meghan O’Keefe crowned “the best Princess Diana ever seen on screen.”

If you’ve burned through all of Season 4 like us, you’ve likely got one question on you mind: what’s next for the series? We’ve got plenty of answers for all of your Crown questions. Here’s what we know about The Crown Season 5:

WILL THERE BE A SEASON 5 OF THE CROWN?

Yes! The Crown is officially returning for Season 5. The fifth season was originally intended to end the series altogether, but creator Peter Morgan changed his mind this summer and announced that the show would run for six seasons. “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,” he said at the time. But don’t expect a Harry and Meghan wedding in Season 6. “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,” Morgan added.

WHEN WILL THE CROWN SEASON 5 PREMIERE?

We have a rough timeline, but odds are you won’t like this answer. The Crown Season 5 isn’t expected to drop on Netflix any time soon — the most recent reports estimate that the next season won’t premiere until some time in 2022. But if you’re looking for something to keep you busy in the meantime, check out The Queen, Morgan’s 2006 film starring Helen Mirren about the aftermath of Diana’s death.

WHO IS IN THE CROWN SEASON 5 CAST?

The Crown Season 5 may be far away, but the show is still shaping up its cast and has already revealed plenty of new cast members. While Emma Corrin stars as Princess Diana on Season 4 of The Crown, the princess will be played next by Elizabeth Debicki, a role she’ll continue for Season 6. Other Season 5 stars include Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth, Jonathan Pryce as Prince Philip, and Lesley Manville as Princess Margaret. Dominic West is reportedly in talks to join The Crown as Prince Charles for Season 5.

THE CROWN SEASON 5 PLOT: WHAT WILL THE CROWN SEASON 5 BE ABOUT?

Season 5 of The Crown will pick up in the 1990s, when the royal family was plagued by three failed marriages — the Queen’s children Prince Andrew, Princess Anne, and Prince Charles all got divorced — plus the devastating death of Princess Diana in 1997. And in 1992 alone (a year the Queen called her “annus horribilis,” per the Evening Standard) Diana’s revealing biography was released detailing her crumbling marriage and her battle with bulimia, and a fire broke out in Windsor Castle that tore through 115 rooms. We can expect to see plenty of drama in Season 5, and if the show includes the early 2000s, we may also see how the royal family handles the deaths of both Princess Margaret and the Queen Mother, who died in 2002.

Stream The Crown on Netflix