RETURN TO THE PALACE

Step behind the velvet curtain for a sneak peek at what’s in store on Season 3 of The Crown.

With seasons 1 and 2 done and dusted, all that’s left is to speculate on what lies in store for this based-on-true-events series. While the next instalment, expected to cover from 1964 to the late 1970s, is unlikely to hit Netflix until 2019, the good news is seasons 3 and 4 will be shot one after the other, with filming expected to start mid-year. “We’re doing them back-to-back,” showrunner Peter Morgan has said. “I’m writing them all at the moment.”

FRESH FACES

“Not only are we casting real-life characters but as we get closer to the present day, many of these people are very much alive,” The Crown casting director Nina Gold told Vanity Fair of selecting new stars. “So we have to honour them by picking the right actor— while making a link between the actors who played these characters in the first seasons.”

THE HEIRS

Charles and Anne will be portrayed by more adult actors, taking centre stage from child stars Billy Jenkins and Julian Baring (who played the prince at different ages), and Lyla Barrett-rye as the only princess of the new generation. In this era the pair graduated from school and embarked on first loves, including Charles’s romance with Camilla and Anne’s with Camilla’s future husband Andrew Parker Bowles. “We’re unlikely to cast a major movie star,” Gold has said of these roles. “Charles, Camilla and Anne are going to be pretty interesting characters to follow, because they are just coming into their own.”