The Crown: Elizabeth Debicki to play Princess Diana in the final series

Australian actress Elizabeth Debicki will play Diana, Princess of Wales, in the final two seasons of the hit Netflix series The Crown, it has been announced.

The Night Manager star will succeed Emma Corrin in season four.

Debicki joins Jonathan Pryce and Imelda Staunton for the final two seasons of the royal drama, which is set to cover the 1990s and early 2000s.

The fourth season is slated for release this fall.

• The Crown needs an extra season to cover the 1990s
• The Crown casts its last Prince Philip

“Princess Diana’s spirit, her words and her actions live on in the hearts of so many people,” Debicki said in a statement posted to the Crown’s official Twitter account.

“It is my true privilege and my honor to join this masterful series which made me absolutely addicted from the first episode.”

The 29-year-old actress is known for her roles in films such as The Great Gatsby and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2.

The final two series will feature Princess Diana and Prince Charles’ marriage breakdown and death in 1997, which plunged the royal family into crisis.

• How the death of Princess Diana changed the royal family?
• In pictures: Diana, Princess of Wales

The last two series could also cover the death of Princess Margaret and the Queen Mother, seven weeks apart in 2002, and the Queen’s jubilee that summer.

Earlier this week, the show announced that Oscar-nominated actor Jonathan Pryce would follow in Matt Smith and Tobias Menzies’ footsteps to play Prince Philip in series four and five.

Imelda Staunton, meanwhile, succeeds Olivia Colman as monarch, while Lesley Manville will play Princess Margaret.