The Crown, season 6: who's playing Prince William and Kate Middleton?

The cycles of royal news have been exhaustive and exhausting. Following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, grief, protests and cancellations dominated social media. There were some strange examples of reported closures and postponements – food banks, hospital appointments, etc – but others were at least intelligible.

Filming for The Crown, season 6 was suspended following the news. Series creator Peter Morgan publicly proclaimed that The Crown is a ‘love letter’ to the former monarch, so a pause out of respect was expected. According to Deadline, Netflix has ‘long had plans in place should Queen Elizabeth die during its run'.

The release date for the sixth and final season hasn't yet been announced and, given the halt in production, it could be later than the usual November plan. But that doesn’t stop little announcements from spilling into the press. Deadline reported that the roles of Will and Kate have been filled. Strangely: neither of them has film or television experience. Here’s what we know about the new cast members.

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Rufus Kampa: Prince William (aged 15)


Photo: Netflix

Sixteen-year-old Rufus Kampa from Aylesbury is set to play the prince as a teenager. According to the Deadline report, Kampa will star in the episodes covering the aftermath and trauma of Princess Diana’s death in 1997.

Kampa made his West End debut in 2019 as the lead in The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole 13¾ at The Ambassadors Theatre. For the past five years, Kampa has been training with The British Theatre Academy and will start sixth form at the Tring Park School for Performing Arts in September.

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Ed McVey: Prince William (late teenager/early adult years)

Ed McVey as Prince William in The Crown, season 6. Photo: Netflix

Devon-born Ed McVey, 23, plays a slightly older version of the prince. McVey recently starred in a production of the Mike Bartlett play An Intervention at Riverside Studios and performed at The Old Vic as an understudy in Camp Siegfried. He graduated with a BA in Acting at the Drama Centre London in 2021.

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Meg Bellamy: Kate Middleton


Meg Bellamy as Kate Middleton in The Crown, season 6. Photo: Netflix

At 19, shortly after leaving St Crispin’s School in Wokingham, Meg Bellamy will play the future Princess of Wales. The series will cover Middleton’s years at the University of St Andrews, where she met Prince William in 2001. Bellamy has no professional experience on stage or on screen and, like Kampa, was discovered via self-submitted audition tapes after a casting call on social media.

Kampa, McVey and Bellamy will star alongside Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth II, Jonathan Pryce as Prince Philip, and Dominic West as Prince Charles.

Meg Bellamy and Ed McVey as Kate Middleton and Prince William in The Crown, season 6. Photo: Netflix