As we approach the final episodes of The Crown, which are set to release on Netflix on 14th December, the show's casting director Robert Sterne, who has worked on the series since its beginning, spoke exclusively with RadioTimes.com.
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Looking ahead to season 6 part 2, Sterne spoke about casting the show's university-age Prince William, as played by Ed McVey, explaining why the young star was right for the role.
He said: "Well, I suppose it's quite a complicated character. The character was coming out of that kind of tragedy, but looking forward. And he is a golden boy who's going find his own autonomy. And it's a difficult transition for him from university into entering the limelight as the heir.
"And Ed just had an immediate connection with it. We saw a lot of people for it. We did a big old search for that for many months. And we did chemistry reads with him and his brother, and him and Kate. And so it's kind of quite a process. But it was very clear very early on that Ed was our guy."
Sterne also spoke about casting Meg Bellamy as Kate, saying that the character has to deal with "various pressures" with "grace and a presence of mind".
"I think that Peter Morgan's version of the character was very much a person who was having to deal with a lot of pressure with a lot of grace, and a real presence of mind.
"They’re early days – we see her as a teen and then we see them going to university and we see their kind of relationship starting and the various pressures that she has on her life at that time.
"Dealing with that with a grace and a presence of mind, that's what Meg was brilliant at."
This final season of The Crown is expected to end around the time of Charles and Camilla's marriage in 2005, with Camilla star Olivia Williams teasing a "tremendous moment, in the very last episode, in the very last moments of the last episode, when the Queen finally accepts Camilla and is warm and complimentary to her."
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James Hibbs is a Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering programmes across both streaming platforms and linear channels. He previously worked in PR, first for a B2B agency and subsequently for international TV production company Fremantle. He possesses a BA in English and Theatre Studies and an NCTJ Level 5 Diploma in Journalism.
