‘Feud’ Season 2: All the Details (So Far) About ‘Charles and Diana’

Ryan Murphy tapped into the cultural zeitgeist to explore how women in Hollywood are treated with Feud: Bette and Joan. With season one now wrapped, the prolific showrunner will turn his attention to the Royals for season two of the FX anthology.  

The second season, officially greenlighted Feb. 28, will focus on Prince Charles and Princess Diana. Here are all the details about Feud: Charles and Diana, so far.

The Creative Team

Murphy will return as showrunner on season two and will co-write the season with Jon Robin Baitz (Brothers & Sisters, The Slap). Both will exec produce the Fox 21 drama alongside Plan B’s Dede Gardner and Alexis Martin Woodall. Charles and Diana reteams Murphy and Baitz, who are currently collaborating on Katrina, the upcoming second season of FX anthology American Crime Story. Feud: Bette and Joan stars Jessica Lange and Susan Sarandon will return as executive producers. 

Episode Count

Season two will consist of 10 episodes — up from Bette and Joan‘s eight — and will premiere in 2018. A specific date has not yet been announced. Production will begin in the late fall as Murphy is currently casting his Charles and Diana. 

Overall Theme

“Having a show called Feud is interesting because…feuds are about pain,” Murphy said Friday during a For Your Consideration panel for Emmy voters. “So Charles and Diana’s story literally begins with the filing of the divorce papers. And it’s about that pain, the dissolving of a fairy tale, particularly for Diana. It starts with the filing of divorce papers and takes you up until her death.” 

While season one was based on the script Best Actress by Jaffe Cohen and Michael Zam, there is currently no source material associated with the sophomore outing. Murphy said subsequent seasons of Feud will focus on different types of battles and that the franchise is unlikely to feature another woman-to-woman clash. “I’m interested in this show being a two-hander that’s really about the human dilemma of pain and misunderstanding,” he told THR. “I think you need a long period of time, maybe 20 to 40 years, to have a big backstory.”

Casting

Casting has yet to be announced for season two, though given Murphy’s repertoire of frequent collaborators, it’s fair to expect there will likely be some familiar faces. Murphy reiterated that there’s “always” room for Sarandon and Lange to return in some onscreen capacity.

About Charles and Diana

Charles and Diana offers a chance to explore the royals and the power, glamor, celebrity and media scrutiny that came with their story. Charles and Diana’s July 1981 wedding at St. Paul’s Cathedral was broadcast around the globe to an estimated 750 million viewers. Diana remained in the public spotlight during her marriage and was hailed for her involvement in numerous charities. Media scrutiny escalated after Diana and Charles divorced in August 1996. She was killed in a car crash in Paris a year later. Her funeral attracted more than 32 million viewers in the U.K. alone.

Beyond Charles and Diana

Season-one showrunner Tim Minear told THR on Friday that he and co-exec producer Gina Welch — who penned the finale — have another story in mind for a future season. “There is another feud story to be told that Gina and I are very interested in doing with Ryan. So that’s a possibility,” he said, noting it could be season three or four. “It is very different from what we just did and it’s just a rich, great story and it is about some iconic American scandals and feuds: ambition, sex, celebrity, hypocrisy, love, sexuality. You know, your basic Sunday afternoon.”

Jean Bentley contributed to this report.