The Crown: Jonathan Pryce, 73, to play Prince Philip

The Two Popes actor Jonathan Pryce is reportedly set to play Prince Philip in the final two seasons of The Crown.

The star, 73, is lined up to join the star-studded cast of the hit Netflix show and will portray the royal through the 1990s and 2000s, reports The Sun.

Jonathan will appear alongside Imelda Staunton, who will play the Queen, and Lesley Manville who has been cast as Princess Margaret for seasons five and six.  

A TV insider told The Sun: ‘The three British actors formed a Holy Trinity of talent, which show bosses targeted to play the senior members of the Royal Family. 

‘Jonathan was the only name that was discussed to play Philip and the creators of the show were thrilled when he agreed to join the cast.’  

MailOnline has contacted a representative for Jonathan Pryce and Netflix to ask for a comment. 

The actor’s alleged role in The Crown comes after he was nominated for an Oscar for his role in The Two Popes. However he lost out on the gong to Joaquin Phoenix.

Royals: Prince Philip has been played by Matt Smith and Tobias Menzies so far in previous series of The Crown (pictured the real royal with the Queen in a snap to mark his 99th birthday)

Jonathan already has links to The Crown after appearing in 2018 stage show Height Of The Storm with Dame Eileen Atkins, reports London Theatre Direct.

The three-time Olivier Award winning actress played Queen Mary in the popular Netflix series.

In previous instalments of The Crown Prince Philip has been played by actors Matt Smith, in the first two seasons, and Tobias Menzies, in series three and four.

Welsh star Jonathan has appeared in several big budget movies and TV shows throughout his illustrious career.

Impressive: The actor’s alleged role in The Crown comes after he was nominated for an Oscar for his role as Cardinal Bergoglio in The Two Popes (pictured alongside Anthony Hopkins as Pope Benedict) 

Big roles: Jonathan also appeared in Game of Thrones as High Sparrow (pictured in the show)

In 1996 he appeared alongside Madonna in the film adaptation of Evita and also had a major role as James Bond villain Elliot Carver in 1997’s Tomorrow Never Dies.

More recently Jonathan has been showing his acting talents in TV shows, playing the role of High Sparrow in Game Of Thrones in 2015.  

It comes after Helena Bonham Carter admitted she’s ‘so chuffed’ to be handing over the role of Princess Margaret  to Lesley Manville, 64. 

Speaking with the Radio Times about leaving the part, the Sweeney Todd star, 54, said: ‘I feel like I should be handing over a baton, like this race we are all running. 

Previous Princes: Matt Smith (left) was the first actor to play Prince Philip in seasons one and two before Tobias Menzies (right) took over the role for series three and four

Delighted: Helena Bonham Carter has previously said that she’s ‘so chuffed’ Lesley Manville will be replacing her as Princess Margaret in The Crown

Passing the baton: Helena said she thinks Lesley will have ‘a great time with her’ as ‘she’s a great actress’ (Lesley is pictured at the British Academy Television Awards in May 2019)

‘With Lesley, I feel like I should hand the cigarette holder that I used as a baton. Here you are, over to you! 

‘She’s going to have a great time with her and I’m so chuffed it’s her and she’s a great actress and she’ll have great fun.’

Helena added that her predecessor Vanessa Kirby had been ‘incredibly enthusiastic’ when she got the part and was ‘generous’ in her advice, so she hoped she could do the same for Lesley. 

She went on to claim it was a shame the cast and crew of The Crown were unable to properly bid farewell each other after finishing their two season stint on the show because the COVID-19 crisis meant they had to go into lockdown. 

In the running: Olivia Colman take over the role of Queen Elizabeth II has been playing The Queen in recent series, but is set to be replaced by Imelda Staunton in the final two

Royally good: Imelda is to play the Queen in The Crown’s final two series, showing the royal in the 1990s and 2000s

Helena was nominated in the Supporting Actress category at the BAFTA TV Awards for her role, while her co-star Josh O’Connor -who played Prince Charles- was also nominated for Best Supporting Actor.

The Crown picked up seven nominations for the newest series which saw Olivia Colman take over the role of Queen Elizabeth II, though she has not been nominated.

Back in July it was claimed the fifth series of The Crown reportedly would not be released until 2022. 

The premiere has been delayed because producers are said to want a filming break, meaning filming won’t start until June 2021. 

Series five will see Imelda Staunton, 64, take over the role as Queen Elizabeth II from Olivia Coleman, while Lesley will portray Princess Margaret.

Deadline reports the postponement of filming is not due to the coronavirus pandemic but because of the complexity of studio and set-piece location shoots for the era of the series. 

A similar break was taken between series two and three of The Crown, which saw Claire Foy, 36, hand over the reins to Olivia.  

The fifth instalment is thought to begin in the early nineties and end in the early noughties, with writer Peter Morgan saying Staunton would be ‘taking The Crown into the 21st century’.

There are several poignant moments during the decade, which include the Queen making a speech on her 40th anniversary of her accession in 1992, in which she called the year an ‘annus horriblis’.

She was referring to  the breakdown of three of her children’s marriages; Prince Andrew, Princess Anne’s and Prince Charles’ divorce from Princess Diana. 

Other noteable events during the time period included a fire at Windsor Castle, her golden wedding anniversary in 1997, and the deaths of Princess Margaret, the Queen Mother and the Princess of Wales.    

Exciting: Earlier this month, it was announced The Crown will run for six series instead of five