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The Crown cast versus the real life royals through all five seasons.

We've been waiting with bated breath for the fifth season of The Crown on Netflix, and now that it's here, we have a lot of thoughts.

Netflix's most expensive production, the series tells the story of the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, which only came to an end a few months ago with her death at age 96.

Tasked with representing the Queen and her family across the various stages of her life, production have chosen to update their actors every few seasons in order to show how the royals aged over time.

Watch the trailer for season five of The Crown. Post continues after video.

Our first Queen, Claire Foy, received widespread praise for her portrayal of a young Elizabeth, who ascended to the throne aged just 25. Many had their criticisms when she left the show and was replaced with Academy Award-winning actress Olivia Colman, who played an older, tougher Elizabeth. Now, with the debut of the fifth season, the role has been taken on by Imelda Staunton, who represents Elizabeth in the 1990s.

When it comes to the remainder of the cast, some of the actors are strikingly similar, while others are much less so. Elizabeth Debicki and Emma Corrin don't really look alike to each other, but they both look very similar to Princess Diana.

And while Josh O'Connell was the spitting image of a young Prince Charles, some are saying that the newest Charles, Dominic West, is a bit too attractive for the role.

Scroll on to see the rest of the cast.

Queen Elizabeth II

Claire Foy as Queen Elizabeth, seasons 1-2.

Netflix/Getty.

Olivia Colman as Queen Elizabeth, seasons 3-4.

Netflix/Getty.

Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth, season 5.

Netflix/Getty.

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

Matt Smith as Prince Philip, seasons 1-2.

Netflix/Getty.

Tobias Menzies as Prince Philip, seasons 3-4.

Netflix/Getty.

Jonathan Pryce as Prince Philip, season 5.

Netflix/Getty.

Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon

Vanessa Kirby as Princess Margaret, seasons 1-2.

Netflix/Getty.

Helena Bonham Carter as Princess Margaret, seasons 3-4.

Netflix/Getty.

Lesley Manville as Princess Margaret, season 5.

Netflix/Getty.

Prince Charles

Josh O'Connor as Prince Charles, seasons 3-4.

Netflix/Getty

Dominic West as Prince Charles, season 5.

Netflix/Getty.

Princess Diana

Emma Corrin as Princess Diana, season four.

Elizabeth Debicki as Princess Diana, season 5.

Netflix/Getty.

Camilla Parker-Bowles

Emerald Fennell as Camilla Parker-Bowles, seasons 3-4.

Netflix/Getty.

Olivia Williams as Camilla Parker Bowles, season 5.

Netflix/Getty.

Want more content on The Crown? Take a look at these articles:

Feature Image: Netflix/Getty.

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Top Comments

rush 2 years ago
They're never going to be perfect, but some of them were pretty good. They were way off with the actress playing the Queen Mum this season though! And they aren't mentioned here, but some of the Prime Ministers were very good too, especially Gilian Anderson's Thatcher, and Jeremy Northam playing Anthony Eden. And even John Lithgow playing Churchill, despite being about a foot too tall!