Seasons five and six of The Crown will be a family affair both onscreen and off. Thirteen-year-old Senan West—son of Dominic West, who will play Prince Charles—has been cast as a teenage Prince William in the Netflix series, Variety reports. According to the outlet, this will be Senan’s first onscreen role, coming after a nationwide search to find the royal heir.
Senan, who reportedly submitted a taped audition via his agent, will make his debut in the final episodes of The Crown’s long-awaited fifth season, according to the outlet. Alongside the father-son duo, Elizabeth Debicki—spotted filming with West in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, this October—stars as Princess Diana. Those set photos also featured two newcomers, Timothee Sambor as a younger Prince William and Teddy Hawley as Prince Harry.
The final two seasons of The Crown are expected to address the end of Charles and Diana’s marriage, as well as the death of the People’s Princess. Jemima Khan, a British TV producer and close friend of Lady Di, has reportedly distanced herself from the Netflix series after originally acting as a consultant. Khan told the U.K.’s Sunday Times that series creator Peter Morgan enlisted her to advise on season five, including the season’s outline and scripts. “It was really important to me that the final years of my friend’s life be portrayed accurately and with compassion, as has not always happened in the past,” Khan said. “When our cowriting agreement was not honoured, and when I realized that particular storyline would not necessarily be told as respectfully or compassionately as I had hoped, I requested that all my contributions be removed from the series and I declined a credit.”
In a statement to the Times, Netflix refuted this account, claiming, “Jemima Khan has been a friend, fan and a vocal public supporter of The Crown since season 1. She has been part of a wide network of well-informed and varied sources who have provided extensive background information to our writers and research team — providing context for the drama that is The Crown. She has never been contracted as a writer on the series.”
The Crown’s fifth season will bow in November 2022, welcoming a whole new cast, including Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth, Jonathan Pryce as Prince Philip, Lesley Manville as Princess Margaret, Jonny Lee Miller as Prime Minister John Major, (reportedly) Olivia Williams as Camilla Parker-Bowles and Khalid Abdalla as Dodi Al-Fayed, the Egyptian film producer romantically linked to Diana at the time of their 1997 deaths.
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