Is season four of The Crown about to be the most devastating?
Welp, all signs are pointing in that direction. Following a series of pretty ominous teasers, Netflix has released the official trailer for the royal showdown and we recommend stocking up on Kleenex before giving it a watch.
Several seconds into the new clip, Gillian Anderson appears as British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, one of the most polarizing political figures in the U.K.'s history. "Your Majesty, I think we have enough respect for one another personally to ask ourselves some of the bigger questions, woman to woman," she tells Olivia Colman's Queen Elizabeth II in a seconds-long exchange that proves the real-life figure was dead-set on asserting herself as a force to be reckoned with.
And though Thatcher lists all the reasons for which she believes she's successful as prime minister, the queen is quick to call out the "joblessness, recession, crises" that have arose under her reign. The clip promises a tense dynamic between these two. And, spoiler alert, we're pumped to see how, exactly, producers tackle the years that lead to Thatcher's actual resignation in November 1990.
That said, it's the devastating love (hate?) story between Prince Charles (Josh O'Connor) and Princess Diana (Emma Corrin) that takes center stage at the second half of the trailer. The clip finds Prince Philip (Tobias Menzies) reminding Charles of his obligation to the crown: "One day, dear boy, you shall be king. Your duty now is the choice of a woman the people will love as a princess, and in due course, as queen."
We then see Corrin step into the glamorous role of Diana, posing for the paparazzi and walking around Buckingham Palace in a replica of the iconic David and Elizabeth Emanuel wedding gown she wore to get married in. Perhaps the most painful look at what's to come is evidenced in a voiceover from Corrin's Diana, who tells Queen Elizabeth II, "All I want is to be loved. It's all any of us want from you."
Talking about Diana in another scene, the Queen Mother (Marion Bailer) says, "In time, she will give up her fight and bend as they all do." Helena Bonham Carter's Princess Margaret chimes in, adding that if she doesn't bend, "she will break." Dark stuff.
Toward the end, we see dramatic glimpses at huge fights between Diana and Charles, his affair with Camila Parker Bowles (Emerald Fennel) and Thatcher's ultimate downfall.
Phew! Did you catch all that?
As the official Netflix description for season four says, the new season begins in the late 1970s through 1990, an "increasingly divided" time for the royal family. The cast also includes Erin Doherty as Princess Anne, Georgie Glen as Lady Fermoy, Tom Byrne as Prince Andrew, Angue Imrie as Prince Edward, Charles Dance as Lord Mountbatten, Stephen Boxer as Denis Thatcher, Rebecca Humphries as Carol Thatcher and Freddie Fox as Mark Thatcher.
Creator Peter Morgan opened up about the tense relationship between Queen Elizabeth and Thatcher.
"It was a commonly held piece of wisdom that the Queen and Thatcher didn't get on," he said. "I think there was probably a lot of respect. But they also had many differences, it was really fun exploring their differences and their similarities. I also get a chance to explore them both as mothers. Writing Thatcher and the Queen as mothers was probably an angle that no one has explored before. It yielded one of my favorite episodes in the season."
Allow us to gather ourselves to prepare for an unprecedented season of drama. Then, scroll down to get more details about what's to come in season four.
There are two more seasons to go before the tiaras and tea sets get put away for good (or at least until creator Peter Morgan decides to get them out again). Season five is next, and season six will be the last.
November 2022!
We know that it feels like we've waited forever, but the show has followed its routine production schedule. Season one came out in 2016, followed by season two in 2017. Season three arrived in 2019, season four in 2020, and now there's another break for season five. Morgan explained in an interview with THR that he needs the time off to both shoot and write the next season, since the show films in two-season chunks.
The sixth and final season will likely premiere in 2023.
Seasons five and six will take the royal family into the 21st century, but not too far into it. Nothing super recent will be covered, but since each season tends to span around a decade, it makes sense that the show might end with the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in 2012. That would mean William and Kate's 2011 wedding would be featured, but little else from the 2010s.
Elizabeth Debicki will play a slightly older Diana in season five, which will likely cover the '90s from her split from Charles to her death in 1997. She takes over from Emma Corrin, who debuted in season four.
The former Princess of Wales' boyfriend Dodi Fayed will reportedly be played by Khalid Abdalla, per Variety. Dodi's billionaire father, Mohamed Al-Fayed, will also appear in season five, as Oslo actor Salim Daw has been cast in this role.
The entire cast gets replaced every two seasons, so Olivia Colman will pass the torch to Imelda Staunton, who you may know best as Dolores Umbridge from Harry Potter.
Game of Thrones star Jonathan Pryce will play Prince Philip in seasons five and six, taking over for Tobias Menzies.
Lesley Manville will follow in the footsteps of Helena Bonham Carter as the new Princess Margaret in seasons five and six.
The Wire and The Affair star Dominic West plays Prince Charles, succeeding Josh O'Connor in the role.
Dominic's own son Senan will play a teenage Prince William in season five.
Jonny Lee Miller has joined The Crown for season five as John Major, the British Prime Minister from 1990 to 1997. Gillian Anderson played previous Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who left office in 1990.
In Sept. 2022, Netflix revealed that two actors will portray a young William in season six: 16-year-old Rufus Kampa and 21-year-old Ed McVey. And 19-year-old Meg Ballamy will play Kate.
Sadly, no. As much as we keep hoping, Morgan said that Harry and Meghan, despite the captivating drama they've added to the world of the royal family, are too recent to cover with any clarity.
"Meghan and Harry are in the middle of their journey, and I don't know what their journey is or how it will end," he told THR. "One wishes some happiness, but I'm much more comfortable writing about things that happened at least 20 years ago. I sort of have in my head a 20-year rule. That is enough time and enough distance to really understand something, to understand its role, to understand its position, to understand its relevance."
Here's hoping for another season in 2040!
Season four of The Crown hits Netflix on Sunday, Nov. 15.