There’s a new queen in town, and it looks like The Crown isn’t shying away from it. A new teaser for season 3 of the acclaimed Netflix show addresses its casting changes head on with a scene in which Olivia Colman, who replaced Claire Foy as an older Queen Elizabeth II, approves a brand new portrait to appear on the nation’s stamps.
“A great many changes,” she sniffs, as she stares at an outline of Foy’s face, in contrast with her own. “Not much one can do about it — one just has to get on with it.”
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Colman’s turn as the queen picks up in 1964, shortly after the end of the show’s second season, and will cover a tumultuous time of transition for Great Britain, and the monarchy itself. If the the first two seasons focused on Elizabeth easing into her new role (and chafing under the restrictions at times), then this teaser finds her quite comfortable in her duties. She jokes about looking like “an old bat,” secure in her ability to poke fun at herself. And yet, Colman brings intense vulnerability to the 30-second clip — you get the sense that she’s lost a tiny part of herself under the weight of the crown.
The Oscar-winning actress touched on those difficulties in a recent Vogue profile. “It’s easy to just go, ‘Well, how hard can being the queen be?’" she said. “I think it’s really hard. You can’t just go, ‘I don’t want to do it today.’ ”
Though we do catch a glimpse of some of the queen’s advisors in the teaser, some faces are conspicuously absent. Tobias Menzies, who replaced Matt Smith as Prince Philip, is nowhere to be seen, nor is Helena Bonham Carter, who took over from Vanessa Kirby as Elizabeth’s vivacious and troubled sister Princess Margaret.
Other additions to the season include Josh O'Connor, who will play Prince Charles, Erin Doherty as Princess Anne, and Emerald Fennell as Camilla Parker-Bowles.
November 17 can’t come fast enough.