It's not long until The Crown season 6—the fictional retelling of the personal and professional lives of the British Royal Family—hits screens. This Thursday 16th November, we'll finally get to see how things play out in the grand finale.
The Crown's sixth season will centre around the untimely death of Princess Diana, as well as exploring the early years of courtship between a young Prince William and Kate Middleton during their university days. This storyline will see two new actors in the leading roles in The Crown—newcomers Ed McVey and Meg Bellamy. All eyes will be on Ed and Meg as they depict the blossoming romance between one of the UK's most-loved couples, so it's safe to say there will be a certain amount of on-screen chemistry between the pair.
In a recent interview, Ed revealed how he bonded with Meg, his on-screen girlfriend, during filming. He opened up to Cosmopolitan about a 'special moment' the actors shared, saying: "When we were in St Andrews filming the university scenes, we jumped in the North Sea with the rest of the cast, and it was one of those really special moments. It was freezing!"
Ed McVey also opened up about how he prepared for the role, finding plenty of inspiration for playing the future King as 'he's been documented from birth'.
He explained: "He has a very specific voice—that 2000s Etonian thing, where people try to dial down how much money they have. I worked with a movement coach, so I could embody his physicality, trying to connect it to his psychology—how he feels in his mind affects how he behaves in his body, especially with what he went through at that time."
Ed and Meg were first spotted in character as Wills and Kate filming scenes in St Andrews this March, showing the pair's early relationship while they were at University together. While we'll get to see how the pair met and their romance developed, that's where the depiction will end, due to The Crown creator Peter Morgan’s decision not to depict more recent events. Peter has previously explained that he wants to stick to a '20-year rule' when it comes to dramatising British history.
"I’m much more comfortable writing about things that happened at least 20 years ago,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “I sort of have in my head a 20-year rule. That is enough time and enough distance to really understand something, to understand its role, to understand its position, to understand its relevance. Often things that appear absolutely wildly important today are instantly forgotten, and other things have a habit of sticking around and proving to be historically very relevant and long-lasting."
This means that season six will be The Crown's last and key events in the couple's history, such as their 2011 wedding or the rise and fall of the 'Fab Four' (Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, Prince William and Princess Catherine's brief nickname before the former left the UK), won't be depicted.
Peter concluded: "I don’t know where in the scheme of things Prince Andrew or indeed Meghan Markle or Harry will ever appear. We won’t know, and you need time to stop something being journalistic."
