‘The Crown’ casts Elizabeth Debicki as Princess Diana in final two seasons
The 'Guardians of the Galaxy' actress will play The People's Princess during seasons five and six.
By Will Stroude
Elizabeth Debicki will play Princess Diana in season five and six of The Crown, it has been announced.
The Australian actress, 29, will portray the late royal during the penultimate and final season of the acclaimed Netflix series, which are expected to be set in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Debicki will take over the role from Emma Corrin, who will play the younger ‘Lady Diana Spencer’ in The Crown‘s upcoming fourth season.
In a statement, the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 actress said: “Princess Diana’s spirit, her words and her actions live in the hearts of so many.
Elizabeth Debicki will play Princess Diana in the final two seasons of The Crown (Seasons 5 and 6). pic.twitter.com/Z3CjHuJ56B
— The Crown (@TheCrownNetflix) August 16, 2020
“It is my true privilege and honour to be joining this masterful series, which has had me absolutely hooked from episode one.”
Debicki, whose breakout role came as Jordan Baker in Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby in 2013, has also starred in Guy Ritchie’s The Man from U.N.C.L.E and hit BBC series The Night Manager.
She’ll be joined in season five and six of The Crown by Imelda Staunton, who’ll play Queen Elizabeth II, Lesley Manville, who’ll take over the role of Princess Margaret, and Game of Thrones star Jonathan Pryce, who will portray Prince Phillip.
Diana, Princess of Wales established a strong bond with the LGBTQ before her tragic death in a Paris car accident in 1997, famously shaking hands with AIDS patients without gloves – generating headlines around the world in the process – as she helped break down the stigma surrounding the virus.
In 2017, her son, Prince Harry, accepted an Attitude Award on her behalf at the Attitude Awards honouring her groundbreaking HIV and AIDS activism.
In his speech, the Duke of Sussex paid tribute to his late mother’s sense of social justice, saying: “She felt a responsiblity to shine her spotlght on the people and issues that were often ignored.
“She knew that the misunderstanding of this relatively new disease was creating a dangeorus situation when mixed with homophobia.”
Seasons 1-3 of The Crown are available to watch on Netflix now.