Fans of Netflix's The Crown have been gripped with news of the recasting for season 3 (or is that just us?) as the show moves into older years for Her Majesty and co.

We already know that Olivia Colman will be replacing Claire Foy as the queen, and it's all but confirmed that Helena Bonham Carter will take over the role of Princess Margaret from Vanessa Kirby, but now it seems we have our new Prince Philip.

It's emerged that Paul Bettany is apparently lined up to take the reins from Matt Smith, with the actor said to currently be in talks with producers, although a deal has officially yet to be done, according to The Daily Mail's Baz Bamigboye.

Have to say, we're a fan of this choice though. It's easy to see Paul Bettany and Olivia Colman picking up the same on-screen dynamic that Foy and Smith mastered in the first two seasons.

The actor has previous experience playing royalty in the TV series Sharpe and the film The Young Victoria while these days he can be seen/heard in the Marvel movies including the upcoming Avengers: Infinity War as Jarvis/The Vision.

Speaking about his decision to recast roles, the show's creator Peter Morgan previously told Variety: "You can’t ask someone to act middle-aged. Someone has to bring their own fatigue to it. The feelings we all have as 50-year-olds are different than the feelings we all have as 30-year-olds."