The premiere date and first look trailer for the second season of acclaimed Netflix drama The Crown have been released, with the series to return on December 8.
The series tells the story of Queen Elizabeth II's reign as the fragile social order established after the Second World War breaks apart.
Season one chronicled her ascension to the throne and season two begins with soldiers in Her Majesty’s Armed Forces fighting an illegal war in Egypt, and ending with the downfall of her third Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan after a devastating scandal. The second season bears witness to the end of the age of deference, and ushers in the revolutionary era of the 1960s.
The Crown's leading stars Claire Foy and Matt Smith previously revealed that season two of the show will focus on their characters Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip's marriage struggles.
Speaking at a panel discussion at Netflix's FYSee event, Foy said: "This is a story of a marriage very much in the second series, and how they navigate that.
"They’ve been together for ten years, they’ve had two children and it’s about going and assessing the situation. It’s not going to be a rose tinted view of marriage."
Smith teased that "it gets a bit hairier" in the next season of the Golden Globe-winning show.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, he explained that the progression of the 1960s impacted the couple's relationship.
"There’s an edge to the dynamic between them. We’re entering the sixties and the world is changing around them in quite significant ways.
"Like always with The Royal Family, they’re having to adapt but they’re having to do it away from the public."
The next season of the sumptuous Peter Morgan drama will feature more of Prince Phillip's backstory, which Smith says is sure to surprise some people.
"We meet [Prince Philip] when he's young and we learn about his history," Smith said. "I think it’s actually really tragic what he went through as a child and I think that will shock some people. It wasn’t easy, he didn’t have an easy life."
Foy added: "It’s very much about the outside world encroaching on The Royal Family and how they’re all coping with it and about change and about how you cope with change."
