Imelda Staunton

Staunton will take over the role from Olivia Colman, with the fifth series expected to cover the monarch’s reign in the 1990s and early 2000s, including the divorce of Prince Charles from Princess Diana and the death of the princess in 1997.

The role of Prince Phillip will pass from Tobias Menzies (This Way Up) to Jonathan Pryce (Game of Thrones), while Elizabeth Debicki (The Night Manager) will take on the role of Princess Diana from Emma Corrin.

A short trailer accompanied the announcement, in which Olivia Colman’s Queen Elizabeth II declares: “Something as important as the monarchy simply cannot be allowed to fail.”

The trailer also introduced the characters of Margaret Thatcher and Princess Diana, played by Gillian Anderson and Emma Corrin.

The coming series will follow the arrival of Thatcher as Prime Minister and Diana’s turbulent relationship with Prince Charles (Josh O’Connor).

If screenwriter Sarah Williams has proven anything to herself about the art of television storytelling by creating ITV’s high profile Flesh and Blood, it’s the truth of the well-worn phrase: it’s not where you start, it’s where you finish.

Four years ago, Williams began with a plan to write a character-based, family series focused on a group of troubled siblings. She came up with the concept following a conversation with Silverprint Pictures’ creative director, Kate Bartlett.

Sarah Williams, who had previously gained renown for adaptations and had never before written a TV thriller, was focused on the love/hate family dynamic before a conversation with Silverprint Pictures creative director Kate Bartlett who had asked her to come up with an idea for a joint project.

“At the start, I wanted to get to the heart of that thing you have with your family, where you’re full of love and support for them, but they can also wind you up and find your weak points,” Williams told an RTS Q&A session following an exclusive screening of the first episode.

Morgan had originally planned for six series of the much-loved drama, but has decided that the fifth series “is the perfect time and place to stop”.

Morgan thanked Netflix and Sony for supporting his decision and described Staunton as an “astonishing talent” and a “fantastic successor”.

Staunton will be the final actor to play the Queen after predecessors Claire Foy and Olivia Colman, taking the series into the 21^st Century.

The Crown first aired in 2016 and with its big budget production spend, was hailed as a game-changing drama for Netflix.