Dominic West said he stopped his son Senan West from potraying Prince William in season 6 of "The Crown" because of the storyline of Princess Diana's death.
The actor's 15-year-old son portrayed Prince William in season 5 of the Netflix show. Apparently, he did such a "great" job at it that he was asked to come back for the final installment.
But Dominic admitted that he balked at the offer because of one scene that involved Princess Diana's death. He said he was not keen on the idea of doing the scene where he tells his real-life son that his mother had died. The actor shares Senan with his wife Catherine FitzGerald.
He told Radio Times: "I didn't really fancy doing the scene at Balmoral [Castle], telling a boy his mother has died."
The actor added: "They invited Senan back because he did such a good job, and he was great, but I did slightly balk at that. It was unfair of me because he did want to do it, but I wouldn't have fancied that, to be honest."
A very patchy and ultimately disappointing fifth series of @TheCrownNetflix - but there were splashes of brilliance, not least young Senan West’s sensitive, thoughtful and measured performance as the young Prince William. pic.twitter.com/v7TgJ4R0cV
— Wall's World 🇺🇦 (@itswallsworld) November 16, 2022
Prince Charles broke the sad news of Princess Diana's death to his sons. The Duke of Sussex shared how his father did not comfort him afterwards in his memoir "Spare".
"Pa didn't hug me. He wasn't great at showing emotions under normal circumstances, how could he be expected to show them in such a crisis?" he wrote.
Prince Harry added: "His hand did fall once more on my knee and he said, 'It's going to be OK.' That was quite a lot for him. Fatherly, hopeful, kind. And so very untrue."
The death of Princess Diana broke Prince Charles, according to Dominic who said he struggled with portraying the royal's emotional side. He admitted that the "big emotional scenes" involving the princess' death were the most difficult to film in season 6 of "The Crown" and pointed at one scene in the hospital in Paris where Prince Charles is "wailing".
Season 6, Part 1 of The Crown is streaming one week today. pic.twitter.com/FVQBHcLtGD
— The Crown (@TheCrownNetflix) November 9, 2023
"The Crown" season 6 is split into two parts. Rufus Kampa portrayed Prince William in the first part which is now available to watch on Netflix. Meanwhile, Ed McVey takes over the role for the second part which will premiere on December 14.
Part 1 covers Princess Diana's death from a car crash in Paris in August 1997. At the time of her death, Prince William, then 15 years old and Prince Harry, 12, were on vacation at Balmoral with Prince Charles and their grandparents, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip.
