Helena Bonham Carter Is Assuming Princess Margaret's Crown on The Crown

Peter Morgan, writer and creator of Netflix hit series The Crown, has always known that if the show were a success he’d completely recast his actors for an aged Royal Family. Do you think he had Helen Bonham Carter on speed dial? Meet your new Princess Margaret.

The Evening Standard reports that an insider says Carter is all but confirmed to take on the role, though she was initially considered as Elizabeth II. That part went to Olivia Colman, taking over from youngun Claire Foy. Margaret is generally funnier, wilder, and far more interesting than anyone else on the show (or in the UK’s actual Royal Family), and Bonham Carter is certainly someone who can do her justice. She also has a “connection” to the real life Princess:

Bonham Carter has a personal connection to the Princess Margaret part: her home in Oxfordshire, Mill House, was previously owned by Margaret’s former lady-in-waiting, Jane Stevens.

Well, tippity-ta tra la!

Morgan has said before that it was important to find actors who could convey the actual changes that come with age, in an interview with Variety, in which he responds to a suggestion that he slap a grey wig on Foy:

They would look ridiculous. It would be wrong. What’s so beautiful about Claire is her youth. 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. That informs everything we do.

So true. As someone who puts on anti-aging makeup every morning, there’s nothing like the real thing. Heyo!