The Crown season 4 welcomes several newcomers to the cast, including Margaret Thatcher and Princess Diana. The Crown season 4 spans from 1979 to 1990, encoming a decade which plagued the royal family with rumors, some of which were unfounded and merely drummed up by tabloids to increase sales. Major events in the royal family between 1979 and 1990 were the divorce of Princess Margaret, the death of Prince Philip's uncle, Lord Mountbatten, and, of course, the marriage of Prince Charles to Lady Diana Spencer.
The Crown season 4 picks up two years after season 3 has a heavy focus on Princess Diana's relationship with Charles, including their courtship, marriage, affairs, and the disintegration of their marriage. The real-life Princess Diana was adored by many and fans of The Crown had high expectations for the show's depiction of such a beloved figure.
Though The Crown has been known to take liberties with characters and story, the show has proven itself to be one of the best historical dramas of our time. While season 3 introduced new actors playing the same characters from seasons 1 and 2, season 4 retains many of the same actors from season 3, but add a few new characters as the story moves from one decade to the next. Among the newcomers are several actors for whom The Crown is a breakout role, but — as with Claire Foy and Vanessa Kirby, who starred in seasons 1 and 2 — The Crown all but ensures their status as rising stars.
Emma Corrin as Lady Diana Spencer
Previously, Emma Corrin’s most notable role was a recurring character in Pennyworth, the Batman prequel series. Corrin’s debut as Lady Diana Spencer in season 4 of The Crown is likely to catapult her to stardom. Corrin has expressed some anxiety over playing such a well-known and beloved character as Lady Diana Spencer, but season 4 has shown a promising performance. The Crown season 4 shows Corrin as a young Diana, who meets and then marries Prince Charles. The role of Diana will then be handed over to Elizabeth Debicki in seasons 5 and 6 of The Crown. Newcomer Isobel Eadie has a minor role as Lady Sarah Spencer, Diana's sister, in season 4.
Gillian Anderson as Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher
The Crown season 4 introduces Margaret Thatcher, who is played by British-American actress Gillian Anderson. Anderson is most well-known for her role as the skeptical FBI agent, Dana Scully, on the long-running supernatural drama, Queen Elizabeth and Margaret Thatcher had a somewhat tense relationship and that no doubt affects the storyline of season 4.
Mark and Carol Thatcher, the twin children of Margaret Thatcher, also appear in The Crown season 4. British actress Rebecca Humphries, known for her role in the British drama series, Trigonometry, takes the role of Carol. Mark Thatcher is played by Freddie Fox, known for The Three Musketeers, Victor Frankenstein, and Hero.
The Queen's Other Children
Tom Byrne is yet another newcomer to The Crown. He portrays Prince Andrew, who appeared as a child in the background of a few episodes in seasons 2 and 3 of The Crown. In an interview with the Evening Standard, Byrne said he found that the best approach to portraying The Kid Who Would Be King.
Olivia Colman as Queen Elizabeth II
Olivia Colman reprises her role as Queen Elizabeth II in The Crown. season 4. The prolific actress has an extensive career. Her other notable works include The Night Manager, and Broadchurch. The Crown season 4 shows Queen Elizabeth navigating several major events both within her family and as the monarch of England, including the marriage of Charles to Diana Spencer and the economic recession of the early 1980s.
Tobias Menzies as Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
Game of Thrones and Outlander. He has also had roles in the British mystery thriller, The Night Manager, and dramedy, Catastrophe. The Crown season 3 showed a middle-aged Prince Philip reconciling with his mother and guiding his adult children through significant life choices. Philip played an integral role in encouraging Charles to make up his mind about proposing to Diana, which is shown in season 4.
Helena Bonham Carter as Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon
Though she is perhaps best known for her role as the wickedly entertaining Bellatrix Lestrange in the Season 3 of The Crown ends in 1977 and season 4 picks up in 1979. During the two-year gap, Princess Margaret's divorce from her husband, Antony Armstrong-Jones, was finalized. In 1985, Princess Margaret underwent lung surgery that was not unlike her father's. The fallout of the divorce and her illness impacts Princess Margaret's storyline in The Crown season 4.
Ben Daniels as Antony Armstrong-Jones, Earl of Snowdon
Ben Daniels has an extensive theatrical career, appearing in dozens of stage productions since 1985. His notable on-screen credits include Margaret, then played by Vaness Kirby, was depicted in a few steamy episodes from season 2 of The Crown. Antony Armstrong-Jones was an accomplished photographer, whose celebrity subjects included J.R.R. Tolkien, Elizabeth Taylor, David Bowie, Grace Kelly, and Princess Diana. Season 3 of The Crown reveals the emotionally abusive side of Armstrong-Jones, who really did leave cruel notes for Margaret to find [via Town & Country].
Marion Bailey as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother
Marion Bailey, known for Allied, Vera Drake, and Mr. Turner, returns as Queen Elizabeth's mother. Known formally as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, Elizabeth was popular with the citizens of the United Kingdom and influential within the royal family. Season 3 of The Crown showed her undermining her own daughter, the queen, to negotiate the breakup of Charles and Camilla with Camilla's parents. Since she lived to be 101 years old and died in 2002, she will probably feature in seasons 5 and 6 of The Crown as well.
Erin Doherty as Princess Anne
Princess Anne was introduced in season 3 of The Crown, played by Erin Doherty. Doherty appeared in an episode of Call the Midwife and will star alongside John Boyega in the Rebel Ridge. The Crown season 4 highlights Anne's troubled marriage with Mark Philips (played by Geoffrey Breton of Blue Murder) her journey to becoming an Olympian.
Josh O'Connor as Prince Charles
Best known for God's Own Country, Josh O'Connor returns as Prince Charles in The Crown season 4. Prince Charles, heir apparent to the British throne, is a central figure throughout the season, thanks to Lady Diana Spencer, their wedding, and his affair with Camilla Parker Bowles. Charles and Diana's divorce was not finalized until 1996 and doesn't occur in season 4.
Emerald Fennell as Camilla Parker Bowles
Camilla Parker Bowles was introduced as Prince Charles' love interest during season 3, played by Emerald Fennell who is also known for Killing Eve. During season 3, she was caught romantically between Charles and Andrew Parker Bowles, who also had a romantic relationship with Charles' sister, Anne. Charles and Camilla dated again briefly in 1980, just before Charles married Diana, and the two reportedly resumed their affair in 1986.
Charles Dance as Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma
Charles Dance has appeared many times on-screen since the early 1970s. His most recent notable roles include Cersei and Jaime's father, Tywin Lannister, in Game of Thrones. Dance returns as The Earl of Mountbatten, Prince Philip's uncle, in The Crown. season 4. The Earl of Mountbatten has been a minor character in the prior two seasons of The Crown and, since season 4 picks up during the year of his death, Mountbatten has a relatively brief but impactful role.
The Crown is expertly cast and produced — in fact, many of the actors and actresses were largely unknown before The Crown gave them their breakthrough roles. Despite casting many actors who are lesser-known (and therefore less expensive), The Crown has a massive budget of nearly $10 million per episode due to the lavish sets and costumes. But the money, time, and effort put into the show have paid off and The Crown has certainly earned its reputation as a masterpiece of historical fiction.