First look at Imelda Staunton as the Queen in Netflix's The Crown season 5

Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth II in a still from The Crown season five. Photo / Netflix

Netflix has released a first look at the new actress portraying Queen Elizabeth II in The Crown's fifth series.

Imelda Staunton is playing the monarch in the drama's upcoming new season. Staunton is taking over the role from Olivia Colman, who played the Queen in the show's previous two seasons.

The streaming giant shared the image of 65-year-old Staunton in character as the Queen, looking dignified in a regal outfit.

"An early glimpse of our new Queen Elizabeth II, Imelda Staunton."

Staunton will likely be the last actress to play the Queen in the Netflix series, after the company confirmed the sixth season will be the last.

The final two seasons of The Crown are set in the 1990s, and the show will conclude in the early 2000s.

Known for her roles as Dolores Umbridge in the Harry Potter franchise and Vera Drake.

god save the queen pic.twitter.com/vciAiasxK6

— leigh. (@jillygilliana) July 30, 2021

"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," Staunton said in an interview in January for the BBC Woman's Hour.

Staunton joins several big names in the new era of The Crown.

Lesley Manville is joining series five as Princess Margaret, a role previously played by Helena Bonham Carter and Vanessa Kirby.

Jonathan Pryce will portray Prince Philip, taking over from Tobias Menzies.

The upcoming season will cover Princess Diana's split with Prince Charles, the Duke of York's marriage to Sarah Ferguson, and Diana's death. Emma Corrin won the hearts of The Crown fans in the last season when she played the young Princess of Wales, and Australian actress Elizabeth Debicki will play her in the final two seasons.

"Princess Diana's spirit, her words and her actions live in the hearts of so many," Debicki said in a statement when it was announced she had landed the role.

"It is my true privilege and honour to be joining this masterful series, which has had me absolutely hooked from episode one."

Filming for the show began in July so The Crown fans will have to wait until 2022 for the new season.