'The Crown' Casts Jonathan Pryce as New Prince Philip

Netflix's The Crown has found its new, and final, Prince Philip. On Thursday, the series confirmed [...]

By Allison Schonter

Netflix's The Crown has found its new, and final, Prince Philip. On Thursday, the series confirmed that legendary British actor Jonathan Pryce has been cast to portray the final version of the Duke of Edinburgh in the fifth and sixth seasons of the Netflix original series. Pryce will take over the role from Tobias Menzies, who took over from Matt Smith. Pryce, in a statement, called the opportunity "a joy."

Pryce is no stranger to high-ranking roles, his new title of "prince" joining that of kings, a Pope, and a cardinal. He portrayed Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio/Pope Francis in Netflix's The Two Popes, a role that earned him an Oscar nomination. He also notably portrayed the High Sparrow in HBO's Game of Thrones.

The actor will be starring opposite Imelda Staunton. In January, Netflix confirmed that the crown was to be passed to Staunton for the final two seasons of the series. Queen Elizabeth II was portrayed by Claire Foy in the first two seasons, with Olivia Colman taking on the role for Season 3 and 4. Meanwhile, Lesley Manville has also been confirmed to be portraying Princess Margaret, who has been portrayed by both Helena Bonham Carter and Vanessa Kirby. The casting switch up is due to the fact that The Crown covers a decade of the queen's reign each season, requiring a change of cast every two seasons.

Fans of the historical drama will have to wait to see Pryce, Staunton, and Manville step into their respective roles. Only the first three seasons of The Crown have dropped on Netflix, with Season 4 believed to be coming either later this year or in 2021. Season 5, meanwhile, is not set to begin filming until June of 2021, with a premiere not expected until 2022.

The fifth season had initially been slated to be the last of the award-winning drama. As Staunton was announced to be joining the cast, Netflix had also announced that the series would be ending following its fifth season. As creative work began on Season 5, however, creator Peter Morgan explained that "it soon became clear that to do justice to the richness and complexity of the story, we should go back to the original plan and do six seasons." Season 6 likely won't premiere until sometime in 2023.

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