The sixth and final season of Netflix's The Crown reunites the Season 5 cast while also introducing several new actors and characters.
Inspired by the reign of Queen Elizabeth II and the British royal family, The Crown is a historical drama that famously recasts every two seasons to reflect its historical characters' ages as the series marches toward modern-day events.
Season 5 introduced a whole new roster of stars for its 1990s narrative; and while many are returning for their second and final run, the Netflix series is poised to bring new characters front and center and played by new talent.
The Crown Season 6's Cast & Characters
Elizabeth Debicki - Princess Diana
Picking up where Season 5 left off, Elizabeth Debicki's Princess Diana is on holiday when Season 6 begins, leading to her romance with Dodi Fayed and their fatal accident in Paris, France in 1997.
Debicki, known for Guardians of the Galaxy and Tenet, was cast to play Princess Di in the '90s following Emma Corrin's Season 4 performance, earning the actress a 2024 Primetime Emmy nomination.
According to the actress, her Season 6 task of depicting the royal icon in the events leading to her death was "an immense, immense responsibility."
Imelda Staunton - Queen Elizabeth II
For Season 5, Imelda Staunton took over the role of the late Queen Elizabeth II where she not only had Claire Foy and Olivia Colman as her predecessors but was playing the royal near the same age as she was in life.
That task only continued in Season 6 where the Harry Potter and Downton Abbey star attempts to embody the monarch during one of the most recent and challenging periods of her reign.
Jonathan Pryce - Prince Phillip
Also reprising his Season 5 role is Jonathan Pryce, known for Pirates of the Caribbean and Game of Thrones. He plays Prince Phillip, the Duke of Edinburgh and the husband of Queen Elizabeth II following earlier portrayals by Matt Smith and Tobias Menzies.
Season 6 is expected to highlight Prince Phillip's role as a grandfather, particularly in terms of Prince William, the future heir to the throne who's both growing up and reeling from his mother's death.
As for what fans can expect, Pryce explained to Netflix that “There’s a kind of handing over from his early mentorship of Diana to become a mentor and a comforter to William."
Lesley Manville - Princess Margaret
Returning to her Season 5 role as the glamorous, sharp-tongued sister of the queen is Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris' Lesley Manville.
While incredibly loyal to her sister, Princess Margaret has been a major and often tumultuous character in previous seasons of The Crown. Given the final season's timeline, it's possible that Season 6 will touch on her failing health and potentially her passing.
Dominic West - Prince Charles
While Dominic West also played Prince Charles in Season 5, for the show's sixth and final season, he's depicting the current King of England.
West, whose career ranges from The Wire to Les Misérables to Mona Lisa Smile, claims Season 6 depicts “the worst period” of the newly crowned king's life as Charles deals "with [Diana’s death] and breaking the news to his sons, trying to help his sons mourn.”
Rufus Kampa - Prince William (Young)
Chosen to play Prince William in his early teenage years and in the first half of Season 6 is newcomer Rufus Kampa.
For his first on-screen debut, Kampa is expected to portray Prince William both before and after the events of his mother's death and alongside his younger brother, Prince Harry, played by Fflyn Edwards.
While Kampa may be inexperienced, The Crown director Christian Schwochow praised the new actor:
“He’s only 16, but you can talk really precisely about the emotional arc of this character and what each scene should be."
Fflyn Edwards - Prince Harry (Young)
For a young Prince Harry, The Crown cast The Continental: From the World of John Wick's Flflyn Edwards.
Like Rufus Kampa, Edwards' role is likely limited to the first half of Season 1, showing the young prince before and after Princess Diana's death.
Fflyn claims to have liked Prince Harry's "cheeky side" while admitting that "as a boy from Cwm Gwendraeth I think I've sort of got that [already]."
Ed McVey - Prince William
Set to play a college-aged Prince William in Part 2 of The Crown's Season 6 is another newcomer, Ed McVey, in his first on-screen role.
McVey is confirmed to retell the prince's college days at St. Andrews University in the early 2000s where he meets his future wife and current Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton, played by Meg Bellamy.
Luther Ford - Prince Harry
Luther Ford is yet another member of The Crown cast making his on-screen debut as an older version of Prince Harry whose real-life counterpart is ironically making projects for Netflix.
How much screen time The Crown's second half dedicates to Prince Harry, and what events from his younger years will be shown, remains to be seen.
Meg Bellamy - Kate Middleton
Rounding out the historical drama's batch of new talent is Meg Bellamy as college-aged Kate Middleton.
Just like Ed McVey's Prince William, Bellamy's debut is likely reserved for the second part of The Crown's sixth season and will highlight her college years and early romance with the king-to-be.
Olivia Williams - Camilla Parker Bowles
Reprising her Season 5 role, Olivia Williams from Rushmore and The Sixth Sense is back as Camilla Parker Bowles, playing opposite of Prince Charles' Dominic West.
Much like West, Williams is playing Camilla in the wake of her recently being crowned queen but during an era of intense public backlash.
Season 6 is also confirmed to conclude with Prince Charles and Camilla's 2005 royal wedding.
Claudia Harrison - Princess Anne
Another returning member of the cast, The IT Crowd's Claudia Harrison reprises her character of Queen Elizabeth II's only daughter, the no-nonsense Princess Anne.
Now that the Princess Royal is happily married to palace equerry Tim Laurence, how much screen time Season 6 intends to dedicate to her is unknown.
Khalid Abdalla - Dodi Fayed
Known for Marvel Studios' Moon Knight and Assassin's Creed, Khalid Abdalla is continuing his run as Dodi Fayed, the playboy son of Mohamed Al-Fayed and Princess Diana's romantic interest.
By the time Dodi begins his whirlwind summer with Princess Di, he's produced the Oscar-winning film Chariots of Fire as well as Steven Spielberg's Hook. His final days leading up to that fatal Paris car crash which also claimed his life will be shown in the first half of Season 6.
Salim Daw - Mohamed Al-Fayed
Back as the ambitious Egyptian-born business tycoon, Salim Daw's portrayal of Al-Fayed picks up where Season 5 left off, hosting Princess Diana in the South of France ahead of his son, Dodi's, arrival.
When Mohamad Al-Fayed passed away on August 30, Daw, who previously appeared in Oslo and Fauda, posted a tribute to his real-world inspiration, calling him a "rare and a distinctive character" that he hopes his performance in The Crown "did him justice."
Bertie Carvel - Tony Blair
Reprising his Season 5 character as Prime Minister Tony Blair, Babylon's Bertie Carvel is expected to enjoy an even bigger role in Season 6.
Not only was the Prime Minister an influential figure in the '90s and '00s, but Blair was also directly involved with the nation's reaction to Princess Diana's death, her funeral, and the royal family's response, something The Crown showrunner Peter Morgan previously explored in his 2006 film, The Queen.
Claire Foy - Queen Elizabeth II
After Queen Elizabeth II passed away in September 2022, The Crown was reportedly inspired to create an "ultimate tribute" to the monarch by bringing back Olivia Colman and Claire Foy, both of whom played the queen in previous seasons.
Foy's portrayal of the young queen in Seasons 1 and 2 was a huge contributor to the show's initial success and earned the actress a Golden Globe, two Primetime Emmys, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Olivia Colman - Queen Elizabeth II
Awards magnet and recent Secret Invasion star Olivia Colman took over for Claire Foy in The Crown Seasons 3 and 4, playing a middle-aged version of Queen Elizabeth II which earned her a Golden Globe and a Primetime Emmy.
Bringing the actress back for The Crown's Season 6 tribute is an intended sign of "respect and affection" to the royal who inspired the character Colman shared with Foy, and now, Imelda Staunton.
Part 1 of The Crown Season 6 premieres on Thursday, November 16; Part 2 premieres on Thursday, December 14.
