The Crown season 3: Josh O’Connor cast as Prince Charles

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The Crown season 3 has found its Prince Charles actor, with Josh O’Connor of The Durrells landing the role. There will be a time jump between The Crown season 2 and The Crown season 3, as the show jumps forward to Queen Elizabeth II’s middle-aged years.

To match this huge timeline shift, a whole new cast is being assembled: Olivia Colman is replacing Claire Foy as Elizabeth; Helena Bonham Carter is replacing Vanessa Kirby as Princess Margaret; and also, Tobias Menzies is stepping into Matt Smith’s shoes to play Prince Philip. Additionally, Jason Watkins is joining the cast as Prime Minister Howard Wilson, as we learned last week.

Prior to this point, we had only seen Charles as a child in the show. Julian Baring played him in four episodes, and Billy Jenkins played him in nine episodes. For The Crown season 3 and The Crown season 4, O’Connor will explore Charles’ teenage years and early twenties.

And then, in keeping with creator Peter Morgan’s long-term story plan for The Crown, and older actor will step into the role of Prince Charles for The Crown season 5 and The Crown season 6, which will jump forward in time once more. In those last two seasons, the Queen will be in her advanced years, meaning we will need a Charles actor in his thirties and/or forties and/or fifties.

We’re looking forward to seeing what O’Connor will bring to the role when The Crown returns to Netflix for season 3.

More as we hear it.

Digital Spy