The First Photo of Imelda Staunton as the Queen in ‘The Crown’ Has Us Doing a Double Take

No one would blame the royal family for confusing the two.

If Queen Elizabeth II ever wants to take a day off, she might want to give Imelda Staunton a call. Fans of Netflix’s The Crown just got a sneak peek of Staunton as the queen and it’s uncanny. Seriously, no one would blame even the royal family for confusing the two.

“An early glimpse of our new Queen Elizabeth II, Imelda Staunton,” Netflix tweeted alongside the first photo of Staunton in The Crown. Let’s just say the hair department got her signature coif just right.

The resemblance…is wild! Let’s take a closer look.

Imelda Staunton in The Crown

The actress best known as Harry Potter baddie Dolores Umbridge is set to play the Queen Mum in the final two seasons of The Crown, taking over for Olivia Colman who played Elizabeth in Seasons 3 and 4. Claire Foy originated the role in 2016, playing the queen in her first years on the throne.

While there is still no release date for Season 5 of The Crown, it was announced that Staunton will be joined by Jonathan Pryce as Prince Philip, Lesley Manville as Princess Margaret, and Dominic West as Prince Charles. Elizabeth Debicki will play Princess Diana in the upcoming seasons, which are set to cover the couple’s divorce and her tragic death

In an interview from earlier this year, Staunton talked about the hardest part of playing the Queen later in her life. “I think my sort of extra challenge, as if I needed it, is that I’m now doing the Queen that we’re a little more familiar with,” she told the BBC radio show “Woman’s Hour,” via Variety. “With Claire Foy, it was almost history and now I’m playing one that people could say ‘she doesn’t do that,’ ‘she’s not like that,’ and that’s my personal bête noire.” 

As difficult as that sounds, it’s safe to say Staunton’s already nailed the first part of the assignment.

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