‘The Crown’ Season 3 First Look: Helena Bonham Carter As Princess Margaret [Updated]
Update: Netflix has released the first photo ofHelena Bonham Carteras Princess Margaret inThe Crownseason 3. Read on for our previous coverage about the first photo of Olivia Colman as Queen Elizabeth II.
Netflix’s regal seriesThe Crownis shaking things up for season 3. Rather than apply make-up to the original cast to make them appear older during the passage of time, everyone has been recast, including leadClaire Foy.BroadchurchactressOlivia Colmannow steps into the role of Queen Elizabeth II, and you can see the first look of her in character below.
Patience.pic.twitter.com/7F2f2aBON3
— The Crown (@TheCrownNetflix)August 05, 2025
There she is, in all her royal highness. Claire Foy spent two seasons stealing the show as Elizabeth II, and now, it’s Olivia Colman’s turn. Colman takes over as the long-reigning monarch for season 3 of Netflix’s lavish, very expensive melodrama. The series intends to chronicle practically the entire life of Elizabeth II, all the way up to the present day. Each season of the show is meant to highlight approximately ten years. As a result, we’re already 20 years into Elizabeth’s reign.
CreatorPeter Morganand the rest ofThe Crownteam could’ve simply had make-up applied to their actors to age them up. Instead,The Crownis taking a new approach: re-casting everyone. “you may’t ask someone to act middle-aged,” Peter Morgan toldVariety. “Someone has to bring their own fatigue to it. The feelings we all have as 50-year-olds are different than the feelings we all have as 30-year-olds. That informs everything we do.”
In addition to Colman,The Terror’sTobias Menzieswill take over the role of Prince Philip, previously played byMatt Smith;Helena Bonham Cartersteps intoVanessa Kirby’s shoes as Princess Margaret, andBen Danielswill play Antony Armstrong-Jones., aka Lord Snowdon, a part originated byMatthew Goodein season 2.
According toTHR,The Crownseason 3 will cover “the Wilson era,” the 1964-1970 and 1974-1976 terms of Prime Minister Howard Wilson. Camilla Parker Bowles, the current wife of Prince Charles, will be introduced as a character this season, as will Charles' first wife, the late Princess Diana. Morgan and company have said in the past they really want to keep this show going until it reaches current events, which I guess means we’re going to eventually get an episode in the future where a much older Elizabeth meets amoral buffoon Donald Trump. Who will Netflix cast to play the current Commander-In-Chief? Perhaps a sack of moldy potatoes?
While I loved watching Claire Foy clench her jaw and sip tea through seasons 1 and 2, Olivia Colman is fantastic, and I look forward to seeing what she does with the role.
Update: Here is the full photo of Bonham Carter, as well asa new imageof Ben Daniels, who will now play Antony Armstrong-Jones, (aka Lord Snowdon), the British photographer who falls in love with Margaret.The Crownseason 3 will likely arrive sometime in2019.
