The Crown bosses are reportedly on the hunt for a ‘stunning’ actress who can play a young Kate Middleton in the sixth season of the Netflix drama.
The show recently issued a casting call looking for ‘exceptional young actors’ to play Prince William and Prince Harry aged 16-21. According to The Sun, bosses are also hoping to find an actress who can play the Duchess of Cambridge so they can depict her and William’s blossoming romance whie they were students at the University of St Andrews.
A source said: ‘Having the Duchess of Cambridge is an easy win for The Crown, as it will get more people watching. ‘Particularly as it will show her relationship with William as their romance starts to blossom when they were both students. ‘But since she’s not a crucial part of the storyline, Kate’s presence is a bonus. They’ll only cast her if they can find the right candidate.’ MailOnline has contacted representatives for Netflix for comment.
It comes after the casting call for William and Harry said the roles in the drama are ‘significant’ indicating there may be storylines effecting the young Prince’s lives in the late nineties and early noughties. Over the first four series of The Crown, the Netflix hit has become well known for bending facts to suit its narrative, and while some artistic license is inevitable, some critics have been outraged in its rewriting of history and relationships.
Royal experts have indicated that Prince Harry is now facing a dilemma over his casting after signing a £100million deal with the streaming service – with upcoming series covering some of the most painful and traumatic points of this life. In Season 5, which is currently being filmed, Dominic West’s son, Senan West, 14, will play a young Prince William. Fittingly, his father is playing Prince Charles. It is not known if a fictionalised Prince Harry will appear.
Directors are looking for actors that bare a strong resemblance to the royals and say no previous acting experience is required. ‘We are very experienced in providing a great deal of support for the young actors and their families through what they find is a uniquely rewarding creative process,’ the notice read. The casting call indicates the series will run until at least 2005, likely starting around 1998 – just a year after Princess Diana’s death.
The time period will likely cover William attending University of St Andrew’s in Scotland where he met Kate as well as Prince Charles’ wedding to Camilla Parker-Bowles and the aftermath of the death of Princess Diana. It may also cover Prince Harry’s party days, including alleged experiments with cannabis and alcohol, which resulted in Prince Charles taking the then 16-year-old Prince to a rehab centre in a bid to set him straight.
The dates also cover the Queen’s Golden Jubilee celebration as well as the royal family’s reaction to wider world events including the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Other key events in the time period including Edward’s marriage to Sophie Wessex in 1999 and the deaths of Princess Margaret and the Queen mother in 2002. William and Harry – as well as Kate Middleton and Harry’s then girlfriend Chelsy Davy were regulars on the London club scene in the early noughties. While Netflix’s artistic license has been called into question before, creator Peter Morgan has said he feel a ‘sense of duty’ towards the royal brothers.
Sources close to the creator previously told the Daily Mail he felt a sense of ‘responsibility’ towards the pair. However, royal editor and author Duncan Lancombe told OK! that the Prince ‘can’t not be upset’ at ‘Netflix cashing in on your trauma’. ‘Netflix can just make up conversations with the premise that it is a drama.
They are basing it on history, but in order to make it something watchable they are dramatising it.’ The only two humans that know what they said to each other at the most horrendously traumatic time of their lives is them. Netflix now thinks it’s acceptable to put two child actors doing it with made up lines.’
‘What I’ve said about how William will feel. Take that and double it for Harry. Harry is an emotional guy, whereas William is quite insular and shy when he needs to be.’
