Finally, after countless blurry paparazzi photos and months of anticipation, Netflix has shared the first glimpse of British actress Emma Corrin as Princess Diana in The Crown Season four.
In the first image Corrin, as Diana, is pictured arriving at a red carpet event alongside Prince Charles, played by Josh O’Connor. In another image, she’s seen wearing a pastel yellow suit surrounded by paparazzi, before she’s shown coming face-to-face with Camilla Parker-Bowles, played by Emerald Fennell.
The new season, which premieres on November 15, is set to explore Princess Diana, Prince Charles and Camilla’s infamous love triangle, including Diana and Charles’ wedding, the births of Prince William and Prince Harry, and Diana’s evolution from a young woman living in a London apartment with friends to the People’s Princess.
“You really see her turn from a girl into a woman,” Corrin told Vanity Fair of Diana’s story this season. “We see her before she goes into the palace, when she is living with her flatmates, and how normal she was before she was plucked from obscurity.”
Initially only asked by The Crown‘s casting directors to be a scene partner for those auditioning for the role of Parker Bowles – and not actually audition for a role herself, Corrin looked so much like Diana that the team knew they’d accidentally stumbled upon their lead actress.
Speaking to Vanity Fair, the 24-year-old said once she got the role, she threw herself into researching the late princess, filling her computer desktop with screengrabs from the documentary Diana: In Her Own Words, and putting a photo of Diana with Prince Philip as her computer backdrop. The publication also notes that Corrin named her new cockapoo puppy Spencer, after Diana’s maiden name.
The teaser also included new images of Queen Elizabeth II (Olivia Colman), Prince Philip (Tobias Menzies), Princess Margaret (Helena Bonham Carter), Princess Anne (Erin Doherty) and another look at Gillian Anderson as Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
As for what else the season will entail? Netflix describes it as, “As the 1970s are drawing to a close, Queen Elizabeth and her family find themselves preoccupied with safeguarding the line of succession by securing an appropriate bride for Prince Charles, who is still unmarried at 30. As the nation begins to feel the impact of divisive policies introduced by Britain’s first female Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher tensions arise between her and the Queen which only grow worse as Thatcher leads the country into the Falklands War, generating conflict within the Commonwealth. While Charles’ romance with a young Lady Diana Spencer provides a much-needed fairytale to unite the British people, behind closed doors, the Royal family is becoming increasingly divided.”
I tell you what, I can barely wait.
