The Crown casts doomed Diana boyfriend Dodi Fayed for season 5

Coming on the heels of Netflix’s The Crown success at the Emmy Awards—where the series took home Best Drama among its 11 other honors—the royal program has now lined up the actor who will depict the Egyptian film producer (and department store heir), Dodi Fayed, who died tragically in the 1997 Paris car accident alongside Princess Diana.

British-Egyptian Khalid Abdalla (United 93) will take on the role of Fayed, who will star alongside Elizabeth Debicki – who takes over from the beguiling Emma Corrin as Diana for seasons 5 and 6.

It is unclear how the timing of her tragic death will play out, since Abdalla has been announced as appearing in the fifth season and his relationship with Diana began during the summer of 1997, a few months before their heartbreaking end.

The Crown producers had previously hinted that the series would culminate with the Paris accident, although they have been guarded about how much of the dramatic event would be depicted on screen, for good reason.

The Crown casts Diana’s tragically doomed boyfriend for season 5

The fourth season introduced young Diana Spencer (Corrin) and proceeded to draw out the early dissolution of her marriage to Prince Charles, played by the gifted Josh O’Connor, who won an Emmy for his performance.

The upcoming Crown season will likely continue along those lines, painting a picture of the queen’s “annus horribilis” of 1992 that saw the divorces of two of her children (Andrew and Anne), the release of Diana’s tell-all book by Andrew Morton, revelations about both Charles’ and Diana’s infidelities, and the fire that broke out at Windsor Castle. As Queen Elizabeth II put it in her speech to Parliament that year, “1992 is not a year on which I shall look back with undiluted pleasure.”

The Crown‘s fifth season is likely to breathe new life into the infamous interview Diana gave in 1995 with Martin Bashir, which has come under fresh scrutiny due to revelations that he obtained her consent for the sit-down under false pretenses. ( Prince William has pushed to investigate it.) The catastrophic crash at Paris’ Alma tunnel, fueled by chasing paparazzi, will certainly factor into the scripted events, but whether it will appear at the end of the series—as originally speculated—or at the end of season 5—which is when I now guess it will occur—is an open question.

This also leaves Season 6 as a kind of open door. The Crown series creator Peter Morgan has already explored the post-Diana accident events, when the Queen’s initially cold reaction was heavily criticized, in the Oscar-winning film The Queen. Will Morgan want to revisit the same material? What exactly will season 6 entail?

Producers have already dismissed the idea of delving too closely into recent events,  such as Meghan and Harry’s exit from royal life or Prince Andrew’s ties to pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. We’ll just have to wait and see what develops once Season 5 arrives, currently scheduled for 2022.

Are you looking forward to the next season of The Crown? Sound off in the comments.