A New Queen
With Claire Foy departing the role that earned her a Golden Globe, Broadchurch and The Night Manager star Olivia Colman is set to take over the royal duties in season three and four.
"I think Claire Foy is an absolute genius--she's an incredibly hard act to follow," Colman told BBC. "I'm basically going to re-watch every episode and copy her."
Prince Phillip's Successor
Matt Smith's replacement is Outlander star Tobias Menzies. Ahead of the announcement, the former Prince Phillip teased, "I'm not meant to know, but I maybe know," when he was on Late Night. "If it's the person it could be, I was just totally flattered I thought, 'How marvelous.'"
He then continued, "If it's the person I think it might be, and he's incredibly handsome as well. I have morphed into someone far better looking than I."
A Marriage Crumbles
Spoiler alert…sort of. Since, you know, history. But we will see the disintegration of Princess Margaret (Vanessa Kirby in seasons one and two, Helena Bonham Carter in season three) and photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones' (played by Matthew Goode in season two and Ben Daniels in season three) tumultuous marriage.
The show's history consultant Robert Lacey told Town & Country, "We'll see the breakup of this extraordinary marriage between Margaret and Snowdon. This season, you see how it starts, and what a strange character, a brilliant character Snowdon was."
In case you were curious: the pair divorced in 1978. (Quite controversial at the time.)
Camilla Makes Her Debut
Viewers will meet a young Camilla Parker Bowles, Prince Charles' second (and current) wife, whom he dated before marrying Princess Diana.
Producer Suzanne Mackie confirmed the news in April at the BFI & Radio Times Festival in London, teasing, "We start meeting Camilla Parker Bowles in season three."
The Timeline
It seems likely that season three will at least partly take place in the '70s, given that Charles and Camilla first dated early in that decade, with BBC reporting it will begin in 1964. (Season one spanned 1947-1953, while season two documented 1953-1964, taking us to Prince Edward's birth.)
A Long Wait
While season two aired just one year after season one, the wait for season three will be a little longer, at least according to BBC, which is reporting that The Crown will return in 2019. Patience, it's a virtue.