‘The Crown’ Season 2: Claire Foy, Matt Smith Exit; Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip Recast

"The Crown" Season 2 will be the last fans will see of Claire Foy as Queen Elizabeth II and Matt Smith as Prince Philip. Showrunner Peter Morgan revealed that they will not reprise their roles in Season 3 and 4, since they will be replaced with older actors.

"The Crown" Season 2 follows the life of the British monarch and the Duke of Edinburgh during their younger years. The instalment focuses on the events that happened between 1947 and 1955. Foy and Smith will continue to portray their respective roles, since the characters need young actors.

However, they would have to exit the series after the finale of "The Crown" Season 2. They will not be back for Season 3 and 4, because of the change in timeline. Naturally, as the story progresses the characters also age. The succeeding seasons will then feature a more mature or older version of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip.

This means Foy and Smith will have to exit after "The Crown" Season 2 Finale. Series creator Peter Morgan revealed in a recent press interview their plans to recast Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip in Season 3 and 4 with older actors. It seems Morgan is not interested to use CGI or makeup to give Foy and Smith an aged look.

"I feel that when we reach 1963-64 we've gone as far as we can go with Claire Foy without having to do silly things in terms of makeup to make her look older. If we were to go further forward we'd probably need to think about the issue of recasting everybody," Morgan told Screener Daily.

Meanwhile, Foy and Smith seem unperturbed by this news as they continue filming "The Crown" Season 2 in London. According to Mail Online, they have already done 10 episodes. Production on the instalment reportedly started in October.

Aside from Foy's Queen Elizabeth II and Smith's Prince Philip, "The Crown" Season 2 will also bring in other famous names. Included in the instalment are President John F. Kennedy (Michael C. Hall) and First Lady Jackie Kennedy (Jodi Balfour).