The first full-length trailer for the upcoming season of The Crown has finally arrived. Watch below:
The new season of the critically-acclaimed Netflix drama has been met with controversy in the weeks leading up to its debut.
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As the series inches closer to the present day, the latest instalment will depict the ‘all-out war’ between Prince Charles (Dominic West) and Princess Diana (Elizabeth Debicki) as their marriages dissolved in the early 1990s.
The dramatic first look opens with Windsor Castle on fire before shifting to The Queen walking amongst its charred remains.
The trailer depicts the royal family at a crossroads as Charles’ relationship with Camila escalates as the Queen is faced with making the monarchy more modern.
Diana’s bombshell interview with Martin Bashir in 1995 will also be adapted for The Crown, which a 2021 inquiry found that Bashir acted in a ‘deceitful’ way to obtain the tell-all talk.
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Series creator Peter Morgan has been forced to defend The Crown and its depiction of Charles ahead of the new season.
"I think we must all accept that the 1990s was a difficult time for the royal family, and King Charles will almost certainly have some painful memories of that period,” he told Variety.
"But that doesn’t mean that, with the benefit of hindsight, history will be unkind to him, or the monarchy. The show certainly isn't.
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"I have enormous sympathy for a man in his position – indeed, a family in their position. People are more understanding and compassionate than we expect sometimes."
The new season arrives just a few weeks after the death of the Queen, who will be portrayed by Imelda Staunton, taking the mantle from Olivia Colman.
Queen Elizabeth II died on 8 September aged 96, just three months after celebrating her Platinum Jubilee. The Crown has followed the life and reign of Elizabeth II from her wedding to Prince Philip in 1947.
The ‘90s were a particularly tough time for the royal family, with the Queen reportedly describing 1992 as her 'annus horribilis' as Windsor Castle went up in flames along with the marriages of three of her four children.
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Season five will cover these events as well as all the difficult years leading up to the death of Princess Diana in 1997.
Netflix has clarified that the show’s sixth season – which began production last month – will not recreate the horrific car crash in Paris that took Diana’s life
Jonathan Pryce has taken over from Tobias Menzies as Prince Phillip while Lesley Manville has replaced Helena Bonham Carter as Princess Margaret.
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Also joining the cast is Elementary star Johnny Lee Miller, who will play Sir John Major, the UK's prime minister for most of the 90s.
The cast also includes Elizabeth Debicki as Diana, Marcia Warren as The Queen Mother, Olivia Williams as Camilla Parker Bowles, Claudia Harrison as Princess Anne and James Murray as Prince Andrew.
Senan West will play Prince William, while Khalid Abdalla was cast as Dodi Fayed, Diana’s boyfriend who also died in the 1997 car crash.
The Crown season five will be released on 9 November on Netflix
Topics: TV And Film, The Crown, Netflix