As devastating as it is, we’ve finally come to terms with the fact Claire Foy, Matt Smith and Vanessa Kirby will no longer embody our favourite royals on The Crown and thus begins the speculation as to who will fill their shoes.
According to the UK’s Evening Standard newspaper, the coveted role of Princess Margaret has been “all but confirmed” to be Helena Bonham Carter.
From Queen of Hearts to Anne Boleyn, if there’s one thing Bonham Carter’s proven she can do, it’s a captivating regal role.
Reportedly, she was initially considered for the role of Queen Elizabeth but it was decided she was best suited to the rebellious, and at times controversial, younger sister.
The part of the Queen instead went to Broadchurch actress Olivia Colman and, for a fun piece of pub trivia, both Bonham Carter and Colman have played the Queen Mother – the former in The King’s Speech and the latter in Hyde Park on Hudson.
The somewhat surprising choice to replace the actors every two seasons was decided by Peter Morgan who thought it would be more effective than heavy makeup.
“You can’t ask someone to act middle-aged. Someone has to bring their own fatigue to it. The feelings we all have as 50-year-olds are different than the feelings we all have as 30-year-olds,” he told Variety.
The decision certainly didn’t sit well with some of the current cast.
“I was desperate to carry on,” Kirby told The Telegraph said. “I was like, ‘Right, Peter, what do you want me to do? I’ll smoke a million cigarettes in real life, I’ll do anything to age myself…’ I’m gutted.”
