The Crown Season 6 Has Cast Its Prince William And Kate Middleton

In the four seasons of the Netflix series "The Crown," several actors have portrayed each of the royal family members of the United Kingdom through the decades. Queen Elizabeth was portrayed by Claire Foy in seasons 1 and 2, and Olivia Colman in seasons 3 and 4. Imelda Staunton will take over for the series' final seasons, 5 and 6. 

Season 4 took viewers through the marriage of Princess Diana and Prince Charles (Emma Corwin and Josh O'Connor, respectively), and the birth of their children, Princes William and Harry. Seasons 5 and 6 will feature Dominic West as Prince Charles and Elizabeth Debicki as Princess Diana. And for season 5, young Prince William will be played by Timothee Sambor, and in the final episode, West's real-life son Senan West, with Teddy Hawley and Will Powell as young Prince Harry. The search for young actors to play Prince William and his eventual wife Kate Middleton in the sixth season was a long one. 

Public casting notices went out over social media for the young Princes, and others were posted on casting sites for Middleton. Now, according to Deadline, two actors have been found to play Prince William, and one for Kate Middleton. Prince Harry has yet to be cast. Playing the younger version of Prince William (who was 15 when his mother died) is Rufus Kampa. Ed McVey will play him in his later teen years (the casting notice said through the age of 20). Taking on the role of Kate Middleton is Meg Bellamy. Season 6 will look at the aftermath of Princess Diana's death which occured while she and her companion Dodi Fayed were fleeing the paparazzi in Paris.

This will be the first TV role for each of the actors. It's interesting to note that both Kampa and Bellamy were auditioned and cast after sending in self-tape videos. 

Rufus Kampa is a young actor who, the site points out, has been working on stage for three years, debuting in London's West End production of "Sue Townsend's The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole 13 & 3/4s: The Musical." Kampa has continued to appear in productions off-West End. He will portray the young royal as he's dealing with the immediate loss of his mother. This news comes just days after the 25th anniversary of her passing. 

Ed McVey will take over the role as Prince William heads toward the end of his teens, at the time he and the future Duchess of Cambridge met at the University of St Andrews in Fife, Scotland in 2001. McVey studied at the Drama Centre London and was cast as an understudy in "Camp Siegfried" at the Old Vic in London. The site reports that he has "Queen's English" on his resume, as well as firearms training, which will help with scenes when William served in the military. They also mention snowboarding skills, an activity that the royals appear to enjoy. 

Bellamy is a newcomer, with acting credits that include "amateur dramatics and film-making." 

"The Crown" seasons 1-4 are currently streaming on Netflix. Season 5 will premiere in November 2022. Season 6 will begin filming later this year.