The Crown: What The Lead Royal Ladies Of The Drama Look Like In Real Life

"The Crown" is arguably one of Netflix's most memorable historical dramas. The streaming platform launched six seasons of the show between 2016 and 2023, but the hype continues. Since "The Crown" focused on the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, the drama had a strong female cast recreating fictionalized versions of the British royal family's life-changing moments.

The actors captivated viewers with their performances, particularly with the portrayal of the late queen, her sister Princess Margaret, and her former daughter-in-law Diana, Princess of Wales. However, an underrated aspect of the show was the hair and makeup that transformed the actors into their high-society characters. Cate Hall, the hair and makeup designer of "The Crown," talked about the misconception that cultivating a character's appearance was a quick and easy process in a 2022 livestream. "I think people think there's a kind of 'Stars in Their Eyes' moment, where [the cast] suddenly walk out and it's like they see themselves for the first time," she said. "But actually it's a bloody long process that goes over months and months where you make these very incremental steps" (via The Independent).

For instance, all of Elizabeth Debicki's fittings and hair and makeup sessions totaled over a full day, and Helena Bonham Carter spent more than two hours a day to morph into Margaret on set. Many other actors wore wigs and had their makeup done in ways they weren't used to off-screen, so here's a look at the cast members without their costumes.

Claire Foy depicted Queen Elizabeth II's transition from heir to monarch — and its challenges — very well in Seasons 1 and 2. She wore a wig for the role, in addition to costumes based off the queen's wardrobe. Foy talked to Fashion Magazine in 2016 about filming the coronation scene for five days and the difficulties that came with it, such as wearing a heavy dress and crown, and she contemplated Elizabeth's feelings during the real ceremony. "[It] takes huge gumption to do that," Foy said. Despite all her work to understand the late queen in her youth, Foy wasn't upset about leaving her "Crown" days behind, especially not having to wear fancy frocks anymore. She told Fashion Magazine, "I felt a bit uncomfortable when I was dressed up to the nines anyway."

In September 2026, Foy attended the Venice Film Festival for the premiere of her movie "Ink." She wore an elegant crimson dress by Bottega Veneta with red lipstick to match. Foy's face looked slightly sunkissed and radiant, and her hair was fashioned in a half-up, half-down style. Foy finished off the look with an array of small and large hoop earrings on her earlobes and cartilage, a fashion choice Queen Elizabeth likely never considered.

Vanessa Kirby also wore a brunette wig to play Princess Margaret in the first two seasons of "The Crown." Kirby told Vogue in 2018 that makeup artist Ivana Primorac gave her a different makeover from Claire Foy in Season 2 to signal Margaret's distressed emotional state. "Ivana reshaped my eyebrows and moved my wig back," Kirby said. "[Meanwhile], she brought Claire's [wig] down quite a lot." 

The actor looked completely different than her character at the 2025 BAFTA awards. The shape of Kirby's brows remained the same, but they were fluffier than on "The Crown."  Her makeup looked more neutral, especially on the lips and cheeks, and her presumably false lashes complemented the shape of her eyes. Kirby's cheekbones looked more defined at the BAFTAs, and her lips seemed fuller at the awards show too. Her strapless black Celine gown brought attention to the star's radiant skin, and Kirby's wavy blond highlights made for an elegant finishing touch.

Although Olivia Colman fit the bill for a more experienced Queen Elizabeth in Seasons 3 and 4, she had a lot of transforming to do. The brown-eyed actor initially wore blue contacts to get in character but stopped because director Ben Caron didn't like the look and feel of it. Colman then focused on the more important things: taking movement classes to match the late queen's physicality, changing her accent, and of course, wearing six wigs styled in Elizabeth's signature coiffure. Hair designer Cate Hall told S Magazine, "We felt that her hair shape is so iconic, if we could recreate that precisely, so that the shape of the character was super familiar, then our audience would accept Olivia as their new Queen pretty quickly."

She was known for rocking short brown hair when her seasons of "The Crown" aired, but Colman traded the look for long gray curls in 2026. That October, Colman attended a screening of "Wicker" at the British Film Institute's London Film Festival. Her curly hair extensions were a seamless blend of gray and brown. The blush on her cheeks was slightly warmer than Elizabeth's on "The Crown," and she wore a lighter pink lip. Colman's brows and eye makeup were also bolder than that of her character. 

Helena Bonham Carter brought a thrilling energy to "The Crown" as a middle-aged Princess Margaret. The actor's personal taste is very different from her opulent character, who loved bigger hairstyles. Bonham Carter told Mirror in 2019, "It took two and a half hours every morning to look like her, I had an army of people to make sure I was immaculate." The actor believed the princess' large hairstyles masked her insecurities. "Because Margaret had a complex about only being 5 [feet] tall, her hair got taller and taller," Bonham Carter said. "She just carried on putting on hair pieces, as if they were a mask."

Bonham Carter's hairstyles focus on texture more than volume. In May 2024, the actor went to the BAFTA awards in a black dress with pink, yellow, and red flowers. Her brown hair was fashioned into wavy-curly strands that fell around her face. Bonham Carter also wore a matte pink lip, which is a more subtle choice than some of Margaret's brighter shades.

Fans of "The Crown" were eager to see Princess Diana in Season 4, and Emma Corrin wonderfully played the young, whimsical version of her. Corrin wore blond wigs to become the people's princess, but more importantly, the actor figured out which animal embodied Diana's energy with movement coach Polly Bennett. Corrin told British Vogue in 2020 they initially thought the former Princess of Wales was "a deer in headlights" before realizing that wasn't the case. "But I suddenly said, 'Polly, she's a cat!' I ended up watching a lot of cat behaviour videos," Corrin explained.

The brown-haired actor was very grateful for the breakout role and told British Vogue it was as if they now knew Princess Diana like a friend. However, leaving the role behind wasn't a problem. After coming out as nonbinary and using they/them pronouns, Corrin became an advocate for challenging the gender binary in the arts. They walked the runway for Miu Miu at Paris Fashion Week in October 2026. They wore a short haircut, something they have in common with Princess Diana, and their light layer of makeup drew attention to their soft, glowy skin.

Based on how well she played an older Princess Diana in Seasons 5 and 6, it's hard to tell Elizabeth Debicki was initially terrified about the role. While acting as a global icon is challenging, so was turning Debicki into the former Princess of Wales. Hair and makeup designer Cate Hall told Entertainment Tonight in 2023 about the time it took to style Debicki. Ahead of the show's final season, Hall said, "In terms of fittings, I would say she's probably spent upwards of 30 hours in the hair and makeup chair while we do stuff." The actor's transformation also included dyeing her eyebrows, spray-tanning her skin, and getting manicures.

Debicki is a blond like Diana, but she wears her hair longer than the princess did. At the 2026 Met Gala, the actor wore her hair down, so the strands delicately framed her angular face. The effortless hairstyle also paired well with her gorgeous white Vera Wang gown. The backless dress had multiple cut outs on the torso with a drape-like texture, and high slits on the skirt to display the actor's glowing skin.

As the last actor to play Queen Elizabeth II, Imelda Staunton was conflicted when it was time to let go of the role. She told PA Media in 2023 (via Yahoo), "I've been living with it for two-and-a-half years, a bit longer and now that it's over I feel bereft but relieved, I suppose, in equal measure." Staunton not only dressed the part to resemble the late queen, but she also started learning how to mimic the monarch's voice in 2019. 

Staunton's performance on "The Crown" earned her two Golden Globe nominations, and the real British royal family made her a dame the year after the show's finale in part due to her acting career. Despite Staunton's convincing mannerisms and her formal costumes, the actor has a more modern look than Queen Elizabeth. She showed up to the 2023 BAFTA Awards in a floor-length, navy blue dress with long sleeves. Her short gray hair was brushed back and teased up top, with some strands falling over her forehead in a side bang. The mature hairstyle flattered the actor's features, and it had much less length and curl as the late queen's hair.

Lesley Manville didn't expect to get cast as Princess Margaret in Seasons 5 and 6 of "The Crown." She told The Times that she didn't feel "glamorous" enough to play Margaret and thought she would portray Queen Elizabeth II. "In my head, I saw Margaret as young and glamorous, when Vanessa played her, and glamorous and still quite young, but a bit older, when Helena played her," Manville recalled. The actor was still thrilled to be part of the cast and gave a heart-wrenching performance of Princess Margaret in her final years. 

Manville's hair is shorter than that of the princess, and her makeup incorporates rosy and neutral colors as opposed to Margaret's brighter, sometimes shimmery looks. The actor went to the 2025 San Sebastian International Film Festival in Spain in a blue dress. Her hair was neatly combed back. Manville's brows were thinner than they were on "The Crown," and the bottom of her eyes were lined with a light brown shade. The barely-there rosy color on her cheeks also complemented her mulberry lip color.