Tobias Menzies​ to play Prince Philip in season three of The Crown

The casting of The Crown season three has been the cause of much speculation, as the show's makers go through the slow process of recruiting new actors to take over from the cast of seasons one and two, to ensure the characters are age appropriate (and give us all something to talk about). Finally, the actor playing Prince Philip has been revealed as Tobias Menzies.

You may recognise Menzies from Game of Thrones or Outlander but the Duke of Edinburgh is sure to be his biggest role yet. He is replacing Matt Smith to play the charmingly cheeky character as the show moves on to exploring the Queen's reign from the 60s to the 80s.

We've already heard that Olivia Coleman (adored by Culture Whisper following her appearances in Broadchurch, Fleabag and The Night Manager) will play HRH and that Helena Bonham Carter will take over Princess Margaret from Vanessa Kirby.

The first season of The Crown was – to date – the most expensive TV show ever made, costing the American streaming service a cool £100 million. The first and second seasons pulled in rave reviews, (read our five star review here), and is among the year's most hotly anticipated Netflix releases.

Charting the life of the British reigning monarch, from 1947 until the present day, current leading lady Foy and her co-star Kirby always knew their time was limited. Foy and her co-star Matt Smith only signed up to play the royal couple for the first two seasons, as the show charts the ageing monarch and her life story.

We can't wait to see how the new cast develop their characters. All that's left is to find out who will play Princess Diana.