Netflix has a Christmas treat in store for The Crown fans: a new look at Olivia Colman and Helena Bonham Carter in character as Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret.

The third season will return to the streaming service in 2019 with a brand new cast, including Tobiaz Menzies, Josh O’Connor and Charles Dance.

Entertainment Weekly has unveiled our next look at Colman, who succeeds Claire Foy in the role, alongside Menzies, who replaces Matt Smith as Prince Phillip.

The other photo shows Bonham Carter alongside Ben Daniels, who’ll play Antony Armstrong-Jones in the new season that will chart the rise of Prime Minister Harold Wilson (Jason Watkins).

Series creator Peter Morgan has been recasting royal roles in the Netflix series as the characters get older. Speaking about his decision, he said: You can’t ask someone to act middle-aged. Someone has to bring their own fatigue to it. The feelings we all have as 50-year-olds are different than the feelings we all have as 30-year-olds.”



It was Vanessa Kirby who played Princess Margaret before Bonham Carter. Discussing this particular replacement, Morgan said: “Helena doesn’t look like Vanessa, but the spirit is so similar.”

You can find a full list of who’ll be playing who in season three here.

Colman – who will next be seen in Yorgos Lanthimos film, The Favourite – recently revealed she was forced to listen to the Shipping News in an attempt to stop her from crying in emotional scenes.