Netflix is keeping calm and carrying on with season 5 of The Crown, even after the real-life royal monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, passed away last month. As the series charts a new era with a fresh cast of characters, we see the royal family come up against a cluster of challenges under the Queen’s reign during the 1990s. From the rocky marriage of Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales, to a devastating fire at Windsor Castle, this decade was a tumultuous time for the royal family—and this season’s wardrobe, made by Emmy award-winning costume designer Amy Roberts, reflects that.
The cast, which includes Imelda Staunton, Jonathan Pryce, Lesley Manville, Elizabeth Debicki, Dominic West, and Olivia Williams, were all dressed in silhouettes and sartorial styles that echoed the Nineties (think: big shoulder pads, pantsuits, and the like).
Roberts, who has worked on productions including Oliver Twist, The Virgin Queen, and Upstairs Downstairs, says she collaborated with a team of workroom designers to create the cast’s luxurious wardrobe in a range of textiles and fabrics. Referencing the senior royals themselves by reading scripts and doing extensive research, Roberts took key visuals for each principal character during that era, while simultaneously keeping in mind the various events of the day.
“For me, it’s like designing a great big opera,” Roberts told W on a recent Zoom call. “You get to know each character, what they look like, what they wear—going fishing, or Diana going shopping. I always get quite a strong feeling from the scripts as to the tone of the piece.”
The aristocratic world Roberts wanted to create was always led by the Queen, who set the tone. “The storylines always come back to her," says Roberts. “She’s our thread, isn’t she? I think because she’s now in late middle age [on the show], there’s always a melancholic element, looking back on your life. Your family is a complete mess—they’re all divorcing. Then it culminates: the fire at Windsor, this awful public media battle between her eldest son and Diana. It’s a hell of a lot to deal with, so we darkened the tone a little bit.”
Queen Elizabeth II
Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth II.
When it came to Imelda Staunton’s Queen Elizabeth II, Roberts took into account the monarch’s varied schedule and range of looks, employing darker shades and adhering to the royal’s maturing body shape. As Buckingham Palace is based in a city, Roberts utilized slightly flatter colors for the monarch’s wardrobe. For her audience scenes with the Prime Minister, she wore dresses and occasional suits.
Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth II.
On the opposite end of the spectrum is Balmoral, where she puts on more relaxed, traditional, outdoorsy-wear such as kilts, tweeds, knitwear, Macintosh coats, and sensible shoes. While at Windsor, she donned skirts, blouses, and cardigans. “They’re quite different groups of clothes that she wears,” says Roberts. “But again, the color palette was always fairly soft in tone, and now, darker, more forbidding, somehow.”
Prince Philip
Jonathan Pryce as Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
Roberts believes when it comes to Prince Philip’s style, he’s quite lucky, as he can just put on a suit and go. “Prince Philip is so simple and so stylish and elegant,” says Roberts. “He’s sort of terrifically handsome and tall. He's effortlessly stylish. He just looks great all the time. One of those lucky people. Jonathan Price was interested to see that. He very much lets you get on with it.”
Diana, Princess of Wales
Elizabeth Debicki as Diana, Princess of Wales.
This season, Princess Diana is living an independent life in Kensington Palace as a mother. Most of the looks worn by actress Elizabeth Debicki were made by Sidonie Roberts and reflected Diana’s “almost imprisoned world.” While Roberts hinted that there weren’t many standout sartorial moments this season, there are a few ensembles that were put together for the royal. There is, of course, the revenge dress; plus, the costuming department styled her in an apple green, long-lined jacket with a short skirt and punchy earrings, then dressed her down in jeans with a tucked-in shirt and Tod’s loafers.
Elizabeth Debicki as Diana, Princess of Wales.
Additionally, there were cloak-and-dagger moments in which Diana felt paranoid that she was being followed and watched while visiting Martin Bashir and her brother in secret. She wore baseball caps, sunglasses, and puffer coats.
Elizabeth Debicki as Diana, Princess of Wales.
“She was imprisoned as the princess and now is a separated wife,” said Roberts. “You see her a lot now, locked in her flat. So there are a few moments when she comes out of that prison. [This season] was a lovely difference from how we’ve done her [style] in the past, with the wedding dress and the fabulous frocks in America. Now she’s a responsible mom, but—absolutely, again—at a breaking point. She’s going to be her own person, tell her own story, and then it literally hits the fan. The Bashir interview opened a whole can of worms.”
Elizabeth Debicki as Diana, Princess of Wales.
Prince Charles
This season, the grand wardrobe of Prince Charles, played by Dominic West, is more fabulous and more considered. The ties, pocket squares, cuff links, and double-breasted suits are all done in rich, fantastic fabrics. As the series progresses, this senior royal has slowly found his own look of confidence, which has come to the fore this season.
Dominic West as Prince Charles.
“Charles is a wonderful dresser, like his uncle,” said Roberts. “The looks were all made by our tailors. I gave him a wardrobe of beautifully tailored double-breasted suits in a palette of gray, navy, royal blue, and lots of lovely Prince of Wales checks. He also had a safari suit for when he goes on holiday. As you look at Charles himself, he’ll put a tie, then he’ll put a pocket square which is in an extraordinary pattern, and it doesn’t necessarily go with the tie. It’s terribly visually clever. I think he’s terrifically talented at that. I did my best, but I don’t think I probably matched the real Charles.”
Camilla Parker Bowles
Olivia Williams as Camilla Parker Bowles.
When it came to Camilla Parker Bowles, Roberts said her style as a carefree woman who loves the countryside was quite the opposite of Princess Diana’s, in the sense that Diana was the beautiful and glamorous one.
“She’s funny, warm, and sexy,” said Roberts of Camilla. “Even though she’s wearing terrible old shirts, rotten jeans, and shoes. She doesn’t have an innate style. She hasn’t got stylists yet, so she’s not evolved from the last season quite yet.”
Roberts also used a visual trick to create a larger bust while dressing Olivia Williams. “Camilla is quite heavy-breasted, isn’t she? And Olivia isn’t. So we made a padded bra filled with birdseed because it gives you movement and weight. They move like real breasts do.”
Princess Margaret
Lesley Manville as Princess Margaret.
Princess Margaret, played by Lesley Manville, has always been the more adventurous sibling compared with Queen Elizabeth II. She’s the naughty sister who smokes, drinks, and has a good time. She’s also the daring one who can wear more fashionably bold clothes.
“While the sisters are united by their common knowledge and devotion to each other, they’re so different,” said Roberts. “They have to be. You illustrate that with their style and clothes. And Lesley, whatever you give her, she owns it. There is a big party she goes to, and she is in a bright, sassy, ’80s pink dress and in a big ’80s shape. She wears a tulip skirt with big shoulders. And because she’s unfulfilled and angry, I always feel like she’ll just go for it. Whereas the Queen always has to be buttoned-up and a little bit safer and pretty obvious. With Margaret, you can go another way.”
