Culture

‘The Crown’ Just Revealed Their New Princess Diana, & Someone Get The Casting Team A Raise ASAP

Australia's own Elizabeth Debicki couldn't be a more perfect Princess Di.

by Michelle Rennex  18 August 2021
Elizabeth Debicki Princess Diana The Crown Season 5 casting

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Netflix released the first images of The Crown’s new Princess Diana and Prince Charles this morning, and it’s clear that the show’s casting directors never miss.

With Australia’s own Tenet actor Elizabeth Debicki and The Wire’s Dominic West joining the Netflix hit for Season 5 and 6 as Diana and Charles, respectively, people are praising The Crown’s casting team for their perfect choices — at least, when it comes to the new Princess Di.

Taking over the role from Emma Corrin — who depicted a young Diana struggling with an eating disorder, her unhappy marriage, and life as a young mother over seasons three and four — it’s expected that Debicki’s Diana will dive into the public breakdown of her marriage to Charles during the 1990s, along with Princess Di’s untimely death.

Meanwhile, West replaces Josh O’Connor, who played a young Charles alongside Corrin in Season 3 and 4. It’s expected that the next two seasons of The Crown will also cover the death of Prince Charles’ aunt, Princess Margaret, and grandmother, Queen Mother.

Both West and Debicki will join Harry Potter’s Imelda Staunton — who is also perfectly cast as Queen Elizabeth II — in the upcoming season that is set to hit Netflix in 2022.

However, while Queen Elizabeth’s casting is impressive, all anyone can really focus on is how perfect the new Princess Diana is.

Now there’s no denying that someone as handsome as Dominic West playing Prince Charles at any stage of the royal’s life is a bit of a stretch. But when it comes to Princess Di, Debicki’s resemblance is truly uncanny.

Better yet, not only does Elizabeth Debicki look very similar to Princess Diana, but Debicki and her predecessor Corrin look scarily alike too, which is great for continuity as the series comes to its end with Season 6.

When it was announced that Elizabeth Debicki would play Princess Diana last year, people were very excited for the very tall Aussie actress. But no one was more excited than Debicki herself, who shared that she was honoured to be joining The Crown to play someone as iconic as Princess Diana.

“Princess Diana’s spirit, her words, and her actions live in the hearts of so many,” the actor said in a statement. “It is my true privilege and honour to be joining this masterful series, which has had me absolutely hooked from episode one.”

Now while we wait for Season 5 of The Crown to drop, I think we can all agree that we need to get those casting directors a raise. STAT.

You can stream the first four seasons of ‘The Crown’ on Netflix now.