As anticipation builds for season 5 of The Crown, Netflix has revealed that the new installment of the Emmy-winning historical drama about the royal family will premiere in November 2022. The news came during Netflix’s global fan event, where series newcomer Imelda Staunton introduced her new version of Queen Elizabeth II after taking over for Olivia Colman, who portrayed the matriarch in seasons 3 and 4.
While the premiere seems dreadfully far away, it falls in line with how the previous seasons of The Crown debuted on Netflix. Aside from season 2, which premiered in December, the series has always arrived in November just before the Thanksgiving holiday. And after two seasons, when the series casts all new actors to take over as key members of the royal family, there’s a two-year break. So, following season 4’s debut in November 2020, it only makes sense that season 5, which features Dominic West as Prince Charles and Elizabeth Debicki as Princess Diana and others alongside Staunton, won’t arrive until 2022.
Other major cast members include Jonathan Pryce as Prince Philip, Lesley Manville as Princess Margaret and Salim Daw as Mohamed Al Fayed.
Considering season 4 ended in 1990, with Diana and Charles’ marriage on rocky ground, the new installment is likely to pick up shortly thereafter. As ET previously reported, since Debicki was cast for seasons 5 and 6, it’s safe to assume she’ll appear in most if not all of the final season, meaning that the series will likely end around or shortly after Diana’s death in 1997. If that is the case, then that seven to 10 years, which is typically how long one season spans, could be stretched out over two seasons.
However, the recent news that Khalid Abdalla has been cast as Dodi Fayed opposite Debicki in the fifth season appears to suggest that season 5 may end when Diana and the Egyptian film producer both died in a tragic car accident in 1997.
But this is all speculation, and nothing has been confirmed by creator Peter Morgan or the streaming platform. In the meantime, we have over a year to eagerly anticipate more news about seasons 5 and 6, which will be the series’ last, before The Crown returns to Netflix.
