As The Crown reaches its sixth season, the story is getting closer to the current day royals. The newest season will dive into the early romance between Prince William (now the Prince of Wales) and Kate Middleton (now the Princess of Wales), and we’ve just gotten our first look at the actors playing them.
The pair met at University of St Andrews in Scotland during 2001, and began dating in 2003. So yes, we can expect some iconic Y2K sartorial choices from Kate this season.
Who Has Been Cast As Prince William and Kate Middleton?
The actors portraying the royal couple, Ed McVey (Prince William) and Meg Bellamy (Kate Middleton), have been spotted filming in Scotland, in a location that looks suspiciously like the grounds of a university (Bellamy even has an ‘Academic Writing’ textbook in hand).
The way McVey looks up up at Bellamy as she passes has some suggesting that this could be the moment they first laid eyes on each other.
Ed McVey, 23, is a relative newcomer to the world of TV, with his IMDB only listing The Crown in his credits. Likewise, it is Meg Bellamy’s first major acting job, aged just 20.
How Did Prince William And Kate Middleton Meet?
For reference, Middleton first conversed with Prince William in a dorm hallway at university. She said years later, in their 2010 engagement interview, “I went bright red when I met you and sort of scuttled off, feeling very shy about meeting you.”
They soon became close friends, sharing breakfast together in the campus kitchen. Their time as housemates at St Andrews bonded the couple closely. “It just sort of blossomed from there, really. We just saw more of each other and, you know, hung out a bit more,” William added in the engagement interview.
During their time at university, William would do a lot of the cooking, or at least try to, until something went wrong and Kate had to ‘save him’.
“When I was trying to impress Kate I was trying to cook these amazing, fancy dinners and what would happen was, I would burn something, something would overspill, something would catch on fire and she would be sitting in the background trying to help, and basically taking control of the whole situation, so I was quite glad she was there at the time.”
We can’t wait to see a rendition of that scene in the upcoming series.
There are also images of Ed McVey looking startlingly like the young prince, standing next to Dominic West, who is portraying Prince Charles (now King Charles III). It suggests that we might see a William-Kate-Charles interaction in the show.
Prince William and Kate Middleton are notoriously private about their relationship, but Kate did admit that she was “quite nervous” meeting Prince Charles.
“He was very, very welcoming, very friendly. So, yeah, it couldn’t have gone easier really,” she said in the ITV interview.
It’s likely The Crown will cover all of these sweet moments, as well as the couple’s famed break up after university.
“In that particular instance, we did split up for a bit. But that was just, we both were very young. It was at university, we were sort of both finding ourselves,” William said of the matter.
“I think I at the time wasn’t very happy about it, but actually it made me a stronger person,” Kate said. “You find out things about yourself that maybe you hadn’t realised.”
“I think you can get quite consumed by a relationship when you are younger and I really valued that time for me as well although I didn’t think it at the time.”
When Will ‘The Crown’ Season Six Be Released?
We can’t wait to see all of this drama unfold in the new series, as well as see how they treat the death of the beloved Princess Diana.
It’s worth noting that both Ed McVey and Meg Bellamy look uncannily like their real-life counterparts, so it will surely be a believable performance.
At this stage the final run date for The Crown is not confirmed, but it is expected to be launched in late 2023.
