The Crown Prince releases the first photos of Prince William and Kate Middleton in the final season | Ents & Arts News

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Actors Ed McPhee and Meg Bellamy will take on the roles of Prince William and Kate Middleton in the sixth series of The Crown, which will arguably lead to the death of Princess Diana and its aftermath.

By Bethany Minelle, arts and entertainment reporter

Fri 28 Apr 2023 10:38, United Kingdom

Netflix has released the first official photos of the cast who play Prince William and Kate Middleton in the latest series of The Crown.

Photos show newcomer Ed McPhee as teenager William, and Meg Bellamy playing Kate Middleton.

Photo: Ed McPhee. Pic: Netflix image: Prince William arriving at St Andrew’s University in 2001

The actors — who will play a major role next season — shared the photos in a shared post on Instagram, with the captions: “Here we go!” and “Meet Kate and Will”.

The show will re-create the early days of their relationship, with an official description saying: “As The Crown enters a new decade, Prince William begins university at St Andrews, determined to live as normal a life as possible while he still can.

“Kate Middleton also begins life as a college student from Berkshire. When the pair meet for the first time on campus, a new love story and a new future for The Crown begins.”

William appeared as a child in the latter series, played by Sinan West, the real-life son of actor Dominic West, who then played Prince Charles.

Rufus Kampa will also play William in his younger years, before McPhee took over the role.

The story of young William and Kate’s love story is expected to play a big role in the upcoming series.

Season 5 of The Crown covered the 1990s – a stormy period for the royal family – marked by the breakup of three marriages. Princess Diana, Sarah Ferguson and now King Charles had affairs, while the latter series also included Diana’s infamous interview with journalist Martin Bashir and a fire at Windsor Castle.

Photo: Meg Bellamy. Pic: Netflix photo: Kate Middleton at her graduation party in 2005

As the show approaches the present day, there has been some criticism of its portrayal of the royal family, with Dame actress Judi Dench and former Prime Minister John Major criticizing the artistic license used to depict real-life events.

In response, Netflix said the show is “always presented as a drama based on historical events”.

The streaming giant has also added a poster to the trailer, Twitter page, and website, describing the show as a “fantasy skit.”

The Crown was due to end after the fifth series – which aired two months after the death of Queen Elizabeth II – but creator and writer Peter Morgan later said it would be extended to a sixth series.

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While this final season will cover the period of Princess Diana’s death, in Paris in August 1997 — when Prince William was 15 and Prince Harry 12 — Netflix said it would not film the car crash that killed her.

It is understood that the series will show the lead-up to the crash, as well as its aftermath, but not the crash itself.

The final series of The Crown is expected to be broadcast at the end of this year on Netflix.

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