After Claire Foy and Olivia Colman rocked our world with their portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II on The Crown, Imelda Staunton is ready to take on the mantle. She’ll play the Queen on the two final seasons of the historical series and she’s ready to commence her reign.
Netflix shared a first look photo of Staunton as the Queen, which shows her wearing a printed yellow blouse and a string of pearls. She’s expected to be joined by Lesley Manville as Princess Margaret, Jonathan Pryce as Prince Philip, Elizabeth Debicki as Princess Diana, and Dominic West as Prince Charles when the new season premieres in 2022.
Staunton is best known for her portrayal of Dolores Umbridge in the Harry Potter franchise and her Oscar-nominated role in Mike Leigh’s Vera Drake, and she admitted that playing the Queen won’t be an easy feat.
“I think my sort of extra challenge as if I needed it, is that I’m now doing the Queen that we’re a little more familiar with. With Claire Foy, it was almost history and now I’m playing one that people could say ‘she doesn’t do that,’ ‘she’s not like that,’ and that’s my personal bête noire,” Staunton told BBC.
