Princess Di is getting a new doctor "friend" in season five of The Crown.
Pakistani star Humayun Saeed has been cast as British-Pakistani heart surgeon Dr. Hasnat Khan in season five of Netflix's The Crown, according to Variety. We previously learned that season five will follow the relationship between Princess Diana and film producer Dodi Fayed (Khalid Abdalla) and their tragic ending, and now Saeed will appear as Dr. Khan, the man with whom Diana had a secret affair with before she meeting Fayed.
Saeed is a prominent Pakistani movie star and will act alongside Elizabeth Debicki in the series, who is taking over for Emma Corrin as Princess Diana, as well as Salim Daw, as former Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed.
But who exactly was Dr. Khan?
Dr. Khan worked at London's Royal Brompton Hospital and revealed in a 2004 statement to the Metroplitan Police that was in a relationship with Princess Diana from 1995 to 1997. He also stated that she broke up with him after meeting Fayed on a holiday with Mohammed Al Fayed and his family.
In the same statement, he said that before relocating to Pakistan, he considered having a life with Princess Diana, but since the press followed her every move, it would not have been possible. He continued to say that he felt as though the only possible move was to relocate to Pakistan and that Princess Diana herself had discussed it with Jemima Goldsmith, who at the time was married to Imran Khan, the current Prime Minister of Pakistan.
Scroll through the gallery below and find out everything we know about season five of The Crown so far.
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!