British-Egyptian actor Amir El-Masry to play young Mohamed Al-Fayed in Netflix drama 'The Crown'

British-Egyptian actor Amir El-Masry will play a younger version of Egyptian businessman Mohamed Al-Fayed in the hit Netflix series The Crown, entertainment website Variety reported on Wednesday.

The Egyptian tycoon - former owner of the luxury British department store Harrods - is the father of the late Dodi Al-Fayed, who was famously in a romantic relationship with Princess Diana when they both died in a car crash in Paris in 1997.

The Crown centres on Queen Elizabeth II throughout several periods of her reign.

The highly popular Netflix series has drawn critical acclaim for its cast's performances and its costume design, but has received some backlash for featuring 'anti-monarchist' themes. Nevertheless, it is still one of the streaming service's most popular series.

El-Masry, who was born in Cairo and raised in London appeared in the 2016 mini-series The Night Manager, playing a hotel chef opposite acclaimed British actors Tom Hiddleston and Hugh Laurie.

The 31-year-old received critical acclaim and won a Scottish BAFTA for playing Omar, a Syrian asylum seeker living on a small Scottish island, in the film Limbo.

Fans of The Crown are expected to get a detailed back story of the Egyptian businessman, now 93, who in 2008 famously accused Queen Elizabeth's husband Prince Philip of ordering British security services to murder Princess Diana to prevent her marrying a Muslim man and having his baby.

Mohamed's son Dodi will be played by fellow British-Egyptian actor Khalid Abdalla, while Australian actress Elizabeth Debicki will take on the role of the Princess of Wales. Palestinian actor Salim Dow will star as the older version of Al-Fayed.

The Crown’s fifth season is expected to be available on Netflix in November this year.