Netflix’s The Crown will begin filming its fifth and penultimate season in July, according to the show’s producers via Variety. The season will jump into the early 1990s and feature new set of actors portraying the royal family, including Elizabeth Debicki (Tenant) as Princess Diana, Dominic West (The Affair) as Prince Charles, Imelda Staunton (Vera Drake) as the Queen and Lesley Manville (Phantom Thread) as Princess Margaret.
Variety reports that the production plans to begin shooting at Elstree Studio, located north of London, with strict COVID-19 protocols in place. As the U.K. begins to ease restrictions on its third national lockdown, producers of The Crown are hopeful that the country will be on its path to recovery by July.
The Crown premiered on Netflix in 2016. Taking on a fictional account of the royal family through the decades, the show replaced cast members with older actors to play the characters as they aged over time, according to Variety. Season four, the most recent season, focused on the relationship of Princess Diana and Prince Charles, and took home four Golden Globe Awards, including Best Drama Series.
Season five of The Crown will continue the story of Diana and Charles, moving up to the 1990s. Variety confirmed the most recent cast is set to be the final cast for the show, which will bring the iconic royals up to the early 2000s for its sixth season — which means that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will never figure into the show.
According to a recent interview with James Corden, Harry admitted that he had watched The Crown:
“It’s fictional, but it’s loosely based on the truth. Of course it’s not strictly accurate; it gives you a rough idea about what that lifestyle is, the pressures of putting duty and service above family and everything else, what can come from that.
“I’m way more comfortable with The Crown than I am seeing the stories written about my family, my wife, or myself,” the prince continued via Variety. “That is obviously fiction, take it how you will, but this is being reported on as fact because you are supposedly news. I have a real issue with that.”