It's been almost two years since season two of Netflix show The Crown was released and, now, the trailer for the third season is here.
The Peter Morgan-created show made waves when it debuted in 2016, thanks to its weaving of historical events with both confirmed and speculative goings-on within the ever-intriguing British royal family.
The streaming service confirmed the third series' release date earlier this year, while also previewing a clip of Olivia Colman taking, literally, the crown from Claire Foy, to portray Queen Elizabeth II for the first time.
With not long to go now, read on for a re-cap of last season, where season 3 will go, who will star and what else we know about The Crown season 3...
Is there a trailer for The Crown season 3?
Yes. After initially releasing a 31-second trailer in September, Netflix released the two and a half minute trailer for the third series on Monday (21st October), showing Colman as the Queen - dressed in her trademark pink coat dress and hat - marking 25 years since she ascended to the throne on her silver jubilee.
The suspense-inducing trailer chronicles the royal family as they adapt through a changing British landscape, and with that a changing perception of the family.
Famous historical moments in British history are depicted as well as fascinating speculative insights in the personal lives of the royal family, for example Prince Charles' romantic life in his twenties.
Throughout the trailer, Colman captures the pressure of the role while Helena Bonham Carter effuses the playfulness of Princess Margaret.
We can't wait!
What happened in The Crown season 2?
Cast your minds back to December 2017, when The Crown season 2 came to Netflix. After the first season saw the Queen coronated after the death of her father, the second saw the Queen and Prince Philip (played brilliantly by Matt Smith) struggle with their marriage and family dynamic as the demands on her royal and head of state duties increased.
The season was peppered with historical events to assert the decade in which it was taking place (the late 1950s to the 1960s) including a visit to Buckingham Palace from President John F and First lady Jackie Kennedy, Kennedy's assassination, the Profumo affair, the births of both Prince Andrew and Edward and the marriage between Princess Margaret and Anthony Armstrong-Jones.
What decade will The Crown season 3 take place in and what will happen?
Season 3 of the show picks up in the second half of the twentieth century. Though we don't know exactly what will be covered, these were eventful years. The show was already spotted filming a scene most likely to be chronicling the Aberfan disaster of 1966 - when a coal tip collapsed down a mountain onto the Welsh village, engulfing a school and killing 116 children.
As we know from the first two seasons, the show's storylines often centre around the Queen's relationships, and audiences, with the Prime Ministers. Well, during this time both Harold Wilson and Ted Heath become PM.
As for Princess Margaret, these are also the years that her marriage to Armstrong-Jones breaks down (the couple divorced in 1978), so it's likely this will be explored throughout the series.
Who is in The Crown season 3?
Unlike the first two seasons, which featured the same cast, there is pretty much an entirely different group of actors for the next two seasons as The Crown will travel through the years of the reigning monarchy.
As mentioned, Best Actress Oscar Winner Olivia Colman will take on the lead role from Foy. Colman recently joked that taking over the role from the Golden Globe winner was 'horrendous'.
'Everyone loves Claire,' she told Entertainment Weekly. 'So I have got the worst job in the world at the moment.'
Replacing Smith as the Duke of Edinburgh is Tobias Menzies, best known from Outlander, and taking over the reigns from Vanessa Kirby as the Queen's sister Princess Margaret is the legendary Helena Bonham Carter.
Game of Thrones actor Charles Dance will play Philip's uncle Lord Mountbatten, Ben Daniels will portray Armstrong-Jones.
The Queen and Prince Phillip's children will also have bigger roles now that they are older with Josh O'Conner playing Prince Charles and Erin Doherty, Princess Anne.
Emerald Fennell, who most recently wrote the entire second series of Killing Eve, will play Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, who first got to know her future husband Prince Charles in the early 1970s.
After months of speculation, Sex Education actor Gillian Anderson confirmed she will play Margaret Thatcher on upcoming fourth season of the programme.
‘I'm so excited to be joining the cast and crew of The Crown and to have the opportunity to portray such a complicated and controversial woman,’ the 51-year-old said in a statement tweeted out by Netflix on Saturday.
‘Thatcher was undoubtedly formidable but I am relishing exploring beneath the surface and, dare I say, falling in love with the icon who, whether loved or despised, defined an era.’
Thatcher – who served in office from 1979 to 1990 – was the UK’s first female prime minister. She died in 2013 aged 87.
Grantchester actor Emma Corrin will play Lady Diana Spencer in the series. Popularly known as 'The People's Princess' Diana was married to Prince Charles from 1981-1996 and tragically died in 1997.
After much anticipation, the first glimpse of relative newcomer Corrin as Lady Diana Spencer is here and it does not disappoint.
Showing Corrin alongside Prince Charles actor Josh O'Conner, the pair look the spitting image of the royal couple early on in their marriage.
The set-up appears to be mimicking the couple's Royal Tour of Australia in 1983, a famous image of which shows the pair standing awkwardly in front of Uluru Rock in their hot-weather ready ensembles.
Does the royal family approve of the show?
It’s unknown how the series has been received by the royal family. However, Morgan recently told The Times that he gives four briefings a year to ‘people who are very high ranking and very active' within the “organisation”,’ referring to the Palace.
'Respectfully, I tell them what I have in mind and they brace themselves slightly,’ he told the publication.
The writer also said that he doesn’t want to add any satire into the series.
'The wheels on this show want it to do satire, which is what we love doing with our political leaders and royals', he said.
'But I'm not remotely interested in that. I'm constantly trying to steer it in the other direction, towards something heroic'.
David Rankin-Hunt, the protocol adviser on the programme, added that he is aware that senior members of the royal household are fans of the series.
'If there were some indication from on high that it was some kind of scandalous production, that might be reflected in their view, don’t you think?
How much does it cost to make The Crown?
The series has longed been estimated to be the most expensive TV series ever made.
According to The Guardian, The Crown has a budget of £50m per season (which is approximately the cost of six BBC dramas), and that figure continues to rise.
‘In some years it costs more to make The Crown than it does to fund the real Queen’s sovereign grant – that is, the income from her estates that she is allocated by the government. (For 2016–17, the year The Crown first aired, that grant was £42.8m.),’ the publication states.
When is The Crown season 3 released on Netflix?
The Crown season 3 will come to Netflix on 17 November.
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