Season 3 Of The Crown Comes To Netflix On The 17 November – Watch The New Trailer

Written by Peter Morgan, the man behind The Queen and The Audience, The Crown explores the political crises and personal intrigues of Elizabeth's reign, from her fledgling marriage to Prince Philip to Princess Margaret's own relationship woes, eventually moving on to deal with more recent history (three words: Charles, Camillia, Diana). Set in the 1950s, season one opens with the tragic death of King George VI, and follows the 26-year-old Elizabeth as she learns how to wear the 'crown' of the title, adapting to her new role as head of the world's most famous monarchy. Elsewhere, Princess Margaret makes an unsuitable match when she falls in love with the divorced Peter Townsend, which begins to drive a rift between her and her sister, while Prince Philip struggles to adjust to his newly subordinate position, deferring to his wife's authority as Queen.

The second season of The Crown (and the last for Claire Foy, Matt Smith and the first iteration of the show's ensemble cast) sees cracks begin to deepen in the royal marriage: with Prince Philip dispatched on a tour of the Commonwealth, whispers about his alleged indiscretions begin to reach the Queen. Margaret, meanwhile, finds a new suitor in the form of society photographer Anthony Armstrong-Jones. John and Jackie Kennedy even make a transatlantic cameo in episode eight, which imagines what really went on during their 1961 visit to the Palace. Later in the season, we get an insight into Philip's troubled upbringing, and a glimpse at Charles' fraught experiences of boarding school at Gordonstoun in Scotland.

Given that The Crown is anchored in historical fact, we can certainly hazard a guess as to what the '70s-set season three has in store. Producer Suzanne Macie has already confirmed that we'll be introduced to Camilla Parker Bowles (now the Duchess of Cornwall) next season: the Prince met Camilla (née Shand) who will be played by Emerald Fennell at a polo match in 1971, and dated her until 1973, when he departed with the Royal Navy and Camilla announced her engagement to Andrew Parker Bowles. In an interview with Town & Country, the series' history consultant Robert Lacey revealed that we'll see 'the break-up of this extraordinary marriage between Margaret (who will be portrayed by Helena Bonham Carter) and Snowdon,' adding that 'this season, you see how it starts, and what a strange charater, a brilliant character Snowdon was.' Outside of palace walls, the '70s was certainly a turbulent decade, marked by widespread strikes and an economic slump, a backdrop which will doubtless seep into Peter Morgan's storylines. And as for a certain People's Princess? Morgan has previously hinted that Diana won't make an appearance next season: 'if she were to be introduced, it'd probably have to wait until the fourth,' he told Vanity Fair. The future Princess of Wales did, however, meet Charles for the first time in 1977, when she was just 16 and he was dating her older sister, making a cameo not entirely improbable…

Painstakingly recreating palaces certainly doesn't come cheap. Along with its potentially controversial take on The Firm, the show has made headlines because of its huge budget. Netflix's priciest production to date, the first season reportedly boasted a budget of around £100 million. To put that in period drama context, each episode of the Beeb's recent War and Peace adaptation cost around £2 million, while an installment of Downton was a relative bargain, costing half that. If whispers are to be believed, a sizeable chunk of that budget went on the show's jaw-dropping costumes. For season one, designer Michele Clapton (who has also been celebrated for her sterling work on Game of Thrones) and her team created thousands of historically accurate costumes from scratch, including the famous Norman Hartnell coronation gown and various pieces from Princess Margaret's extensive designer wardrobe.

If you're anything like us, watching one episode of the show inevitably leads to spending another hour Googling the various characters, storylines and scandals which you've just seen unfold on screen, all in pursuit of one question: just how historically accurate is The Crown? In the vast majority of cases, the answer is 'really quite truthful, actually.' In the case of the Windsors, it seems the truth is far more intriguing than fiction. While writer Peter Morgan might sometimes play fast and loose with the facts in favour of a particularly dramatic scenario or heated conversation, all of the storylines we've seen so far have had their grounding in history. The show even employs a historical consultant, Robert Lacey, to ensure things don't get too far-fetched.

If certain quarters are to be believed, the team behind the show can count one Very Important Personage amongst their legions of admirers: the Queen is reported to be a fan. Mind-blowing as it might be to imagine Her Majesty in possession of a Netflix login, the Queen was apparently persuaded to give the show a go by her youngest son, Prince Edward. 'Happily, she really liked it, although obviously there were some depictions of events that she found too heavily dramatized,' a source claimed to the Express. Prince Philip, meanwhile, looks upon the show less favourably, according to an anecdote relayed by his on-screen counterpart Matt Smith (Smith will be replaced by Tobias Menzies for the show's third season). When a friend of Smith's ventured to ask the Duke whether he'd watched the show, his response was to exclaim 'Don't. Be. Ridiculous,' according to a profile piece in The Observer.

For seasons one and two, the show assembled an impressive (and now award-winning) cast. Claire Foy, a veteran of period dramas like the BBC's Little Dorrit and Wolf Hall won a well-deserved Golden Globe for her performance as Elizabeth, supported by former Doctor Who Matt Smith as Prince Philip and Vanessa Kirby as the younger Margaret. The supporting line-up included John Lithgow as a taciturn Winston Churchill, Mad Men star Jared Harris as Elizabeth's father King George VI (aka, the monarch so memorably played by Colin Firth in The King's Speech) and Victoria Hamilton as the Queen Mother. However for season three, the cast has experienced a major switch-up to fit the respective ages of the characters in the time period that will be depicted (The 1970's) The Queen will be played by Olivia Coleman, Princess Margaret will be portrayed by Helena Bonham Carter and Tobias Menzies will replace Matt Smith as Prince Phillip. Ben Daniels will join the cast as Lord Snowdon (Princess Margaret's husband) as will Emerald Fennell to play Camilla Parker-Bowles to Josh O'Connor's Prince Charles. Erin Doherty has been cast as Princess Anne, who will take on a greater role in the series as it progresses into the 1970's during which time her attempted kidnapping took place, and Marion Bailey will play the Queen Mother.

Prince Philip actually only became a Prince of the United Kingdom in 1957, when it was announced that he'd be known as His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

Matt Smith's Philip becomes more of a central focus for The Crown's second season, which explores the Duke's place in the royal family while hinting at his rumoured infidelity.

*The Crown *marks the second time that Claire Foy has played a Queen: she previously starred as Anne Boleyn in the BBC's adaptation of Wolf Hall.

Season two sees Elizabeth more established in her role as Queen, but having to contend with a tumultuous political climate and tensions in her marriage.

Prior to playing Princess Margaret, Vanessa balanced stage work with credits in film and TV productions like Great Expectations, *About Time *and Me Before You. She'll next be seen opposite Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible 6.

Widely perceived as the Queen's 'wilder' sister, Margaret associated with a more bohemian circle in the 60s and 70s.

Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, was widely considered among the most popular members of the royal family, and was active in public life even as she turned 100.

Fan of Doctor Foster? Victoria Hamilton's turn as Gemma's neighbour Anna was certainly a contrast to her royal role as the Queen Mum.

The son of actor Richard (aka Dumbledore from The Philosopher's Stone), Jared Harris' screen credits include *Mad Men, Sherlock Holmes *and Lincoln.

Known as Bertie to his family, George VI never expected to become King. Upon the abdication of his older brother, however, the throne was his.

Matthew Goode is something of a period drama mainstay, having previously appeared in the likes of *Downton Abbey, Brideshead Revisited *and The Imitation Game.

Antony Armstrong-Jones had a notoriously tempestuous relationship with Princess Margaret, but even after their 1978 divorce, he continued as the royal family's photographer of choice.

South African actress Jodi Balfour most recently starred as DI Elaine Shephard in the BBC's police procedural Rellik; prior to that, her biggest role was in Canadian TV drama Bomb Girls .

American actor Michael C. Hall is best known for his roles as the serial killer of the title in *Dexter *and as a mortician in *Six Feet Under. *

Alex Jennings is another *Crown *star to have previously played a different member of the royal family on screen: he starred as Prince Charles opposite Helen Mirren in The Queen.

Alongside her TV roles, actress Lia Williams has starred in a number of plays, directed short films and runs a production company with her husband.

Ben Miles has previously appeared in shows like Cold Feet, *Coupling *and the BBC's Shakespeare adaptation, *The Hollow Crown. *

*The Crown *marks the second screen incarnation of former First Lady Jackie Kennedy of 2017: Natalie Portman earned an Oscar nod for unconventional biopic Jackie earlier this year.

Upon her third marriage, American socialite Wallis Simpson became the Duchess of Windsor, though she was never truly accepted by the royal family.

Britain was gripped by scandal - not to mention a constitutional crisis - when King Edward VIII proposed to Wallis Simpson, an American divorcée who was still technically married to her second husband.

A royal equerry from 1944 to 1953, Peter Townsend's romance with Princess Margaret caused a scandal due to his being recently divorced from his wife.

John F. Kennedy made just one state visit to Buckingham Palace during his presidency, which took place in the summer of 1961. The real life events form the subject of 'Dear Mrs President' in *The Crown's *second season.

Before Charles and Anne headed off to boarding school, they were educated by a governess at Buckingham Palace.

Billy has previous appeared in Channel 4's Humans, while Lyla played a younger version of Romola Garai's title character in a recent adaptation of Emma.

Philip's Uncle was born Prince Louis of Battenberg, a title which was dropped in anticipation of anti-German sentiment ahead of WWI. A descendent of Queen Victoria, he was also Elizabeth's second cousin once removed.

You'll probably know Greg Wise for his role as the dashing but caddish Willoughby in the 1995 screen version of *Sense and Sensibility *(in which he starred opposite future wife Emma Thompson).