The Crown‘s fourth season looks set to serve up some extremely satisfying royal drama. Taking place during the 1980s, the focus will be on the marriage of Charles and Diana and Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s fractious relationship. As such, all eyes are on the two new cast members playing those roles: Emma Corrin as Diana and Gillian Anderson as Thatcher. Now, we’ve got our first proper look at them courtesy of some new stills that you can find down below.
The drama within the Royal household will naturally center on the love triangle between Prince Charles, Diana Spencer and Camilla Parker-Bowles (played by Emerald Fennell). In 1981, Charles and Diana married in what was considered a fairytale wedding, dubbed at the time as one of the most romantic events of the century. Of course, things weren’t all rosy behind the scenes, as Charles had wanted to marry Camilla and maintained an illicit relationship with her right up to the wedding, so expect to see sparks flying between these three actors.
In the political sphere, meanwhile, Britain’s first female Prime Minister was famously often at odds with the Queen. The Iron Lady was known to use the Royal “we” when talking about herself, which annoyed the heck out of Elizabeth. We expect to see Thatcher’s destructive economic policy spitting Britain down the middle, ravaging working class communities and leading to the Miner’s Strike, and I can’t wait to see the pair sparring in some extremely frosty conversations.
Corrin is a relative unknown, but judging by these pictures, she certainly captures the vulnerability and intelligence that made Diana into such lucrative tabloid fodder. Meanwhile, Anderson has knocked every role she’s taken on out of the park for the last few years. In Hannibal, she played the titular cannibal doctor’s therapist and sometimes lover, and if she can bring that level of icy detachment and cold cruelty to Margaret Thatcher, she’ll be onto a winner.
The Crown season 4 will premiere on Netflix on November 15th.
