The upcoming third season of Netflix’s critically acclaimed royal drama The Crown returns in 2019, and it’ll be a wholly different show when it does. In order to accurately depict the passage of time, the cast has been revamped as the show follows Her Majesty in her middle years. So, out goes Claire Foy with Olivia Colman taking over the throne, and speaking of thrones, we now know that a Game of Thrones star has also joined the series in a key role.
Prolific British actor Charles Dance, probably most known internationally for his turn as Tywin Lannister in the HBO fantasy epic, has been spotted on set for The Crown season 3. He’ll play Lord Mountbatten, previously portrayed on the show by Greg Wise. Dance will mostly star opposite Josh O’Connell, as the twenty-something Prince Charles, as Mountbatten takes his nephew under his wing. The pair are known to have been very close in real-life, too, with something of a “grandfather/grandson” relationship.
Season 3 will also explore the early years of Charles’ relationship with Camilla Parker-Bowles, who later became the Prince of Wales’ second wife. The third run stretches across the sixties and the seventies and will likely deal with Charles cutting ties with Camilla as he signed up for the Royal Navy. And as for the Queen herself, the season will depict Colman’s Elizabeth partnering with her Prime Minister at the time, Harold Wilson (Jason Watkins).
Colman will be joined in the main cast by Tobias Menzies as Prince Phillip, previously played by Matt Smith, and Helena Bonham-Carter as Princess Margaret. Season 3 and season 4 are being filmed back to back, too, which is why the show has skipped this year. So, while fans hooked on The Crown have had to wait a bit longer than usual for it, at least we know there are two more seasons on the way.
