The Crown has finally found the stars to portray Prince William and Kate Middleton in the sixth season of the hit Netflix series, with two actors set to portray the Duke of Cambridge and a television newcomer taking on the role of Duchess of Cambridge.
According to Deadline, teenager Rufus Kampa will play the 15-year-old Prince William, while Ed McVey will portray the prince in his later teen and early adult years. Meanwhile, Meg Bellamy has been cast as Kate. This marks the first major television roles for all three actors.
Kampa will feature in episodes that explore how the British Royal Family dealt with the tragic death of William’s mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, who died in August 1997. Meanwhile, McVey’s plot will document William’s courtship of Kate, including how the pair met at the University of St Andrews, where they both studied Art History. William and Kate married in 2011.
While new to television, Kampa has had numerous stage roles, including the title role in Sue Townsend’s The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole 13 & 3/4s: The Musical. McVey, meanwhile, graduated from Drama Centre London in 2021 and has served as the understudy in the play Camp Siegfried at the Old Vic in London.
Bellamy is brand new to acting, having only appeared in amateur dramatics so far in her career. According to Deadline, she and Kampa were auditioned by The Crown casting directors after submitting self-taped videos following a casting call on social media.
The sixth season is expected to begin filming later this year. In the meantime, the show’s fifth season is scheduled to premiere on Netflix in November. Season 5 will see Imelda Staunton (Trying) as Queen Elizabeth II, Jonathan Pryce (Game of Thrones) as Prince Philip, Lesley Manville (Magpie Murders) as Princess Margaret, Dominic West (The Wire) as Prince Charles, Olivia Williams (The Nevers) as Camilla Parker Bowles, and Jonny Lee Miller (Elementary) as Prime Minister John Major.
The Crown, Season 5, November 2022, Netflix