Season Six of "The Crown" is recent history, repeating itself.
The final season of the Netflix royal drama depicts the events leading up to Princess Diana’s tragic death in 1997 in Part One, as well as the beginning of Prince William and the former Kate Middleton's love story in Part Two.
Part Two, which will be released on Dec. 14, will explore William’s time at St. Andrew’s University, where he met his future wife and mother of his three children in 2002. It also takes a look at William’s grief and how he deals with being first in line to the throne.
"It's a lot ... it's a lot," laughed Ed McVey, who plays Prince William, to Savannah Guthrie on TODAY on Dec. 11 when he appeared alongside co-stars Meg Bellamy and Luther Ford. "You get a lot of help, and you get a lot of help through it. And these guys are incredible."
Speaking to TODAY.com in a digital interview, McVey explained that he and his co-stars weren't witnesses to this history, which made it "easier" to think of the real-life royals as characters.
"We were babies when it was going on. So we didn't really have that much of a connection to (the royals) at the time. It was easier for me to really look at the character on the page. I hadn't read about them tabloids. I didn't have an intense, burning need to portray them in a certain way. I was just able to unpack them like any other character," McVey says.
Who is playing Prince William in Season Six of ‘The Crown’?
Newcomer McVey will take the crown as Prince William. He spoke with TODAY.com about what it was like to play the role of a lifetime.
“Where I start, as William, he’s just heavily grieving the death of his mother,” McVey told TODAY.com. “Then he obviously goes to (university) ... falls in and out of love. I think everyone can connect to those preliminary moments of meeting someone you like and you know really know how to deal with it, or yourself or them.”
He adds that as his character begins to fall in love with Kate, viewers will also see William get “more and more used to his (purpose) in life as being the future monarch and becomes more and more OK with that prospect throughout the series.”
Photos of McVey and Bellamy filming at St. Andrews in Scotland. emerged in March of this year, and Netflix officially released a first look of the lovebirds months later. A trailer for Part Two, which was released on Dec. 1, gave a closer look at the young royal and princess-to-be.
After the casting news broke, McVey took to Instagram to address his feelings.
"Ahhhhh the big news is now out!!! I’m absolutely buzzing to be given the opportunity to play Prince William," he said.
When asked by TODAY.com if he would have liked to have asked the real Prince William a question during his research and preparation for the role, he says, “Not particularly.”
“As a prospect, i think would murky the waters a bit for me if I even had that opportunity,” he says. “Because I think that would added a layer of pressure that would have been difficult. So I don’t think I would have even taken that opportunity to do that.”
As for the real Prince of Wales, he hasn't commented on the casting. Members of the royal family have generally abstained from making any statements about the show.
All except Prince Harry who previously told James Corden on “The Late Late Show” that he would want “Homeland” and “Billions” star Damian Lewis to portray him.
“The Crown” marks both McVey and Bellamy's professional debut, as well as Prince Harry actor Luther Ford.
Who is portraying Kate Middleton in 'The Crown' Season Six?
Bellamy was discovered from self-submitted audition tapes following a casting call on social media to play the famous Kate Middleton in the final season of “The Crown.”
When the news of her casting was announced, Bellamy wrote on her Instagram page, “Pinch me please ... So excited to announce that I will be playing Kate Middleton in Series 6 of Netflix’s ‘The Crown’. It is such an honor to be joining the most incredible cast and crew, and I will strive to do Kate justice.”
Bellamy, on her end, would have liked to ask the real Kate about her decision to change schools.
“I think I would have asked what made her move from choosing Edinburgh University to St. Andrews, because I think that it’s so much more than just William going and I think it’s not documented,” she told TODAY.com. “There’s a lot of people saying different things. So I’d want to know kind of like what all the elements were that made her move, because I really don’t know.”
William and Kate graduated in 2005. Their relationship began as friends first, with William previously saying in their first joint interview, “We were friends for over a year first. It just sort of blossomed from then on.”
They then got engaged in October 2010 and got married in April 2011 at Westminster Abbey in London. Since then, they've welcomed three kids: Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.
Who is playing Prince Harry in 'The Crown' Season Six?
Luther Ford, in his first-ever acting role, took on Prince Harry. He told TODAY.com he listened to "Spare," Harry's 2023 memoir, on audiobook to prepare for the part.
"He reads it, so that was ideal and helpful from a vocal perspective," he said.
He said he "did research," but then had to stop at a certain point and "make it your own, which can be quite tricky."
"The things that I kind of zeroed in on was his role as an outsider, and a kind of sad cheekiness ... some kind of comic relief," he said.
Ford told his sister, a "big fan of 'The Crown,'" that he got the part — and she didn't know he had auditioned.
"She didn't know anything. I had no plan to become an actor. I called her and said, 'I've been cast in 'The Crown' as Prince Harry. She didn't believe me. It took hours to prove," he said.