The Crown will portray the Queen and Thatcher as 'twins who are not the same' in latest series, says creator

The new series of The Crown will portray the Queen and Baroness Thatcher as “twins” who are bound together by their similarities.

Peter Morgan, writer of the Netflix series, said he was struck by how much the two women had in common, despite reports that their relationship was frosty.

Gillian Anderson has joined the show as Lady Thatcher, while Olivia Colman (pictured below with Tobias Menzies) reprises her role as the Queen. Series four begins in November.

“When I found out that they were born only six months apart, that was a really big breakthrough for me. They’re like twins who are not the same,” Morgan said.

Speaking to Vanity Fair about the similarities between the two women, Morgan explained: “They’re both very resilient, very committed, work incredibly hard, have an extraordinary sense of duty. They’re both really committed to the country.

“They both have a strong Christian faith. They’re both girls of the war generation who switch the lights off when they leave a room. But then they had such different ideas about running the country.”

The series covers the years 1977-1990, and will include fictional recreations of Lady Thatcher’s weekly audiences with the Queen.

Lady Thatcher’s biographer, Lord Moore, provided an insight into her relationship with the Queen in his 2015 volume, describing their weekly audiences.

“The audiences were rarely very productive, because Mrs Thatcher was nervous. Far from being, as some docudramas and plays have depicted, little speeches in which Mrs Thatcher laid down the law to the Queen, what she said was usually anodyne recitation of current business,” Lord Moore wrote.

But their relationship warmed over the years, and the Queen attended Lady Thatcher’s 70th and 80th birthday parties. At the latter, Lord Moore said, “the two old ladies looked cosy together - two grandmothers enjoying themselves.”

Anderson (pictured) has said of playing one of Britain’s most divisive political figures: “I don’t think I’ve ever taken on a role that presented so much pressure. There are so many very strong and conflicting opinions about her and her policies and the impact that she had, both on the UK and around the world.

“So taking on somebody who is hated as much as Thatcher is, is a whole other thing.”

In parallel with Lady Thatcher’s story, the new season of The Crown will chart the deteriorating marriage of the Prince and Princess of Wales.

The Prince, played by Josh O’Connor, was a sympathetic figure in the last series. But O’Connor said he will now present “a more flawed version of that character… someone who has been wronged on numerous occasions and is stuck in an unhappy marriage. We see edges of his darkness.”

The drama will show him approaching the Queen for advice but “every time Charles talks and tries to engage with his mother, he’s told to get on with it.”

The Princess is played by Emma Corrin (below), and the first three episodes depict the couple’s courtship.

The drama will cover the Princess’s first weekend at Balmoral, the birth of Princes William and Harry, and their troubled 1983 tour of Australia.

It will also recreate the televised engagement interview in which the Prince was asked if he was in love and replied: “Whatever ‘in love’ means.” Corrin said she portrayed the Princess as a child of divorce who was desperate for “any warmth”.

As Princess Margaret, Helena Bonham Carter has “one big episode” but otherwise takes a smaller role in the fourth series. She shows a softer side in her dealings with the Queen, Bonham Carter said. “They enjoy each other’s company, and she’s very much more of a confidant with her sister.”

Morgan recently confirmed that the royal drama will run for six series, rather than the planned five.

But it will end with the Princess of Wales’s death and Morgan said he had not been tempted to bring it up to the present day, covering the travails of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.