What We Know About The Crown Season 4 & Beyond, So Far

Even though season 3 of The Crown just dropped on Netflix, doesn’t mean we’re not obsessively googling when we we’ll be able to watch The Crown season 4. It is our duty (*types in thick, British accent*) to be up to date with any new The Crown details that emerge. Plus, with everything we know about season 4 so far (Gillian Anderson will be playing Margaret Thatcher and we’ll finally be introduced to Princess Diana, played by Emma Corrin), we have a feeling it’s going to be an intense season.

Although we don’t have an exact premiere date, we do know that we won’t have to wait as long for season 4 as we did season 3. The reason why it took two years to get season 3 was because all of the characters had to be recast in order to reflect their actual age. Claire Foy’s Queen Elizabeth II has been swapped with Olivia Colman, Matt Smith’s Prince Philip was taken over by Tobias Menzies, and Vanessa Kirby’s tragic Princess Margaret is now being played by Helena Bonham Carter. 

We also know that The Crown season 4 filming reportedly started August 2019 and will end February 2020, according to Backstage, a career listing site for actors. A tweet from The Crown’s official Twitter account earlier this year confirms this. The tweet, which announced the actress who’s portraying Princess Diana, stated, “Emma Corrin will play Lady Diana Spencer in The Crown Season Four. Filming will begin later this year.”

We’ll most likely be able to stream season 4 of The Crown in late fall 2020, probably before Christmas. Season 1 aired November 4, 2016, season 2 aired December 8, 2017, and season 3 just aired November 17. Since season 5 will most likely be getting the same recasting treatment, expect the same two-year gap between season 4 and season 5 (so, we’ll probably get a fifth season 2022). 

The fourth season will reportedly focus on Margaret Thatcher as prime minister. The Iron Lady held that title from 1979 to 1990 — and we all know what also happened during that time period. That’s right! Prince Charles (Josh O’Connor) met Diana Spencer, the two got married in 1981 and later had two sons, William and Harry. We don’t know if season 4 will dive into Diana and Charles’s divorce in 1992, but it wouldn’t be surprising if the season will explore Charles’ affair with Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall (we’re introduced to Camila, played by Emerald Fennell, in season 3). 

Another major event that’s been confirmed for season 4 is Princess Margaret’s lung surgery in 1985. According to Town & Country, season 4 will show Margaret getting a lung removed due to her habitual smoking. Helena Bonham Carter says, “She smoked 60 cigarettes a day with the knowledge that her father died of lung cancer at 54. She had a lung removed, and she carried on smoking. She was a total addict. There was too much of her life that she was allowed to get lost inside her head, and I think that’s the unfortunate thing.” 

We’ll be getting at least six seasons, according to Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos. In a 2017 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, show writer Peter Morgan confirms this number, adding, “I’d obviously have to see how the show is being received, and I’d have to get some help along the way.” The six seasons will be spanning six decades. In a 2016 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Sarandos shared, “The idea is to do this over six decades, in six seasons presumably, and make the whole show over eight to 10 years.”

As for now, we’ll continue binge-watching season 3 of The Crown on Netflix. Our 2020 calendars are definitely marked though.