The new photos of Olivia Colman as the Queen in The Crown season three are making us all kinds of excited

Can we watch it now please??

Even though it feels like season two of The Crown has just left our screens, we’re already looking forward to its third season – and mourning the loss of its stars from the episodes ahead.

It was announced last year that the last season would be the current actors’ last, with the characters recast to older actors to reflect the passing of time – something that is set to happen every two seasons.

With Claire Foy and Matt Smith leaving impossibly big shoes to fill, fans have been obsessed with news of The Crown castings, from who will take on the role of Princess Margaret to whether the Queen’s corgis will remain the same.

But it wasn’t the first photos of Tobias Menzies as Prince Philip or the startling pay gap between Claire Foy and Matt Smith that got everyone talking this week. Instead, it was new photos of Olivia Colman as the Queen filming for season three in Wales that are spreading around the internet.

The photos in question show Olivia Colman recreating the Queen’s visit after the Aberfan tragedy.

The Aberfan tragedy occurred on 21 October 1966, when a colliery tip collapsed, killing 144 people including 116 children at Pantglas Junior School.

The Queen’s visit to the village was an important moment in her reign, and something that The Crown’s director Benjamin Caron has insisted will be treated with ‘truth and dignity’.

‘It was all very dignified, Olivia Colman is clearly taking her role very seriously,’ an onlooker is reported to have explained, via the BBC. ‘There was a very sombre mood. I think everyone involved in the production realises what an awful tragedy Aberfan was.’

The Crown season three can’t come soon enough.