Olivia Williams Portrays Camilla in the Final Seasons of The Crown

Netflix's hit royal drama The Crown's final Camilla is played by British actress Olivia Williams. The series is known for recasting its stars as the show moves forward in time; actress Emerald Fennell portrayed Camilla in seasons three and four, and Williams takes on the role of Camilla for the final two seasons.

"I was very happy to be playing Camilla from what I knew of her, and then when I actually read what Peter Morgan's angle was on Camilla, I thought it was fascinating," Williams told Town & Country.

Williams, 55, has starred in countless films and TV shows—from Wes Anderson's Rushmore (1998) to the science fiction show The Nevers (2021). Yet, Williams has no interest in being a celebrity, telling The Guardian in 2021, "I’ve been close enough to [stardom] to see how horrifying it is. It’s like some sort of dream."

She's a mainstay of the British theater scene, and previously worked with The Crown's Olivia Colman on stage—they starred as sisters in the play Mosquitoes at the National Theater last year. That wasn't their first time working together, either. In 2020, Williams and Colman both appeared in the Oscar-winning film The Father. However, they won't reunite in The Crown; Colman won't be in the new seasons, as Imelda Staunton takes over as Queen Elizabeth.

In photos from the set of The Crown season 5, Williams can be spotted wearing a green trench coat nearly identical to one Camilla wore in 1995. Her hair is cut to Camilla's signature bob.

At the start of 1995, Camilla and her husband Andrew Parker Bowles announced their divorce. 1995 was also the year Princess Diana gave her infamous interview to BBC's Panorama, where she spoke of Camilla and Prince Charles, saying, "There were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded."

"Anybody who has a perspective on divorce knows that the whole blame game becomes irrelevant," Williams said in an interview ahead of the season."And maybe now we see that [Charles and Diana’s] marriage wasn’t a great idea in the first place. I say that without any disrespect to any of the families involved...hindsight is a valuable thing."

The final two seasons of The Crown feature Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth; Leslie Manville as Princess Margaret, succeeding Helena Bonham Carter; Jonathan Pryce as Prince Phillip, replacing Tobias Menzies; Dominic West will take over from Josh O'Connor as Prince Charles; and Elizabeth Debicki will play Princess Diana, taking over from Emma Corrin.

Season six, part one of The Crown premiered November 16, 2023, and part two drops December 14. Season six begins with Charles throwing Camilla a 50th birthday party, and the show follows Charles's efforts to get Camilla accepted by the British public—and by his mother, Queen Elizabeth. The show will reportedly end with Charles and Camilla's 2005 wedding.

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