Who plays William, Kate, Diana and the queen in 'The Crown'? See Season 6, Part 2 cast
"The Crown" is all wrapped up with the final six episodes dropping on Netflix on Dec. 14.
Created by Peter Morgan, the Emmy-winning blockbuster series presents a fictionalized account of the life and reign of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, with Season 6 expected to cover major royal events from 1997-2005, according to Netflix.
While Part 1 chronicled the final days and the death of Princess Diana, Part 2 of Season 6 shifts gears and enters a new millennium to focus more on happier times in the British royal family including the Queen's Golden Jubilee, King Charles III and Camilla's wedding and the budding university romance between Prince William and Kate Middleton.
Imelda Staunton, Jonathan Pryce, Dominic West, Olivia Williams and Elizabeth Debicki headline the cast with Ed McVey, Meg Bellamy and Luther Ford.
Part 1 of Season 6 garnered a 2 ½ out of 4 stars review from USA TODAY's Kelly Lawler, who described the first part as "grim and almost macabre."
"It's a dark subject, and the series is more than appropriately glum to match funeral black. It is morbid in its dissection and depiction of Diana's death, at times gratuitous in detail and at others achingly dull and slow," said Lawler in her review. "It will keep you watching, if only because it recreates so much of the spectacle that really suffused Diana's life and death."
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Here's everything you need to know about "The Crown" Season 6's cast and who they are portraying.
Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth II
Imelda Staunton returns to the throne as the formidable Queen Elizabeth II as she navigates the Crown in the 90s.
Speaking about her role as the queen, Staunton told Netflix's Tudum that she felt "comfortable" playing her this time because she's been living with the character for a long time so.
“I love her stillness and her ability to not be thrown by everything that must have constantly − throughout her whole life − gone on around her," said Staunton about the queen.
Dominic West as Charles
British actor Dominic West plays the newly divorced Prince of Wales in Season 6 of "The Crown".
West, of "The Wire" fame, told Tudum that he found himself “always trying to fight Charles’ corner” and “present him in a good light.”
“I really like him and I really admire him and I really think he’s a good guy who I think gets a lot of stick, and I didn’t want to add to that," said West about his character.
Jonathan Pryce as Prince Philip
Pryce plays the Queen's husband and the Duke of Edinburgh in the series.
Lawler, in her review of Season 5 of "The Crown" had written that the new actors had either chosen simple impersonations or, like Pryce, made choices "that don't resemble the former actors in their roles, creating the impression that they're acting in different shows."
Lawler had gone on to say that "some of the actors (also Pryce) are woefully miscast."
Olivia Williams as Camilla
Williams plays Camilla Parker Bowles, Charles' love interest and the future Queen Consort of England.
Elizabeth Debicki as Diana
Debicki revives her role as Diana, Princess of Wales, who is moving on from her divorce with Charles.
Part 1 of Season 6 focuses more on Diana and the events leading up to her with Lawler, in her review, writing that Part 1 is "Debicki's show, and everyone else is just along for the ride."
"The actress rises to the occasion, imbuing her version of the People's Princess with a slightly airy naïveté, but always splendidly grounding her emotional scenes," said Lawler of Debicki's performance in the season.
Debicki told USA TODAY she was 7 when Diana passed and that she remembers watching the funeral with her mother in Australia. The actress said her strongest memory from that time was thinking about William and Harry and how they must have felt at the time, having lost their mother at such young ages.
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Ed McVey as Prince William
Newcomer Ed McVey plays the young Prince William in Part 2 of Season 6. McVey had just graduated from drama school before being cast in the role, according to Tudum. He was selected during open auditions for the season and had multiple screen tests with other cast members before he was finalized for the role.
Part 2 will see Prince William pursuing his studies at the University of St. Andrews and his royal romance with a classmate during his time there.
Rufus Kampa played Prince William in the first part of Season 6.
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Meg Bellamy as Kate Middleton
Bellamy will be essaying the role of Kate Middleton and the future Princess of Wales in the series. The young actor was fresh out of school and working at Legoland Windsor Resort when she was cast in the role, as per Tudum.
Bellamy told Tudum that it was “a real privilege, for sure, and such a pleasure” to be a part of the series.
“I’ve always been a fan of the show, so to be part of it is pretty crazy, and it’s nice to finally be celebrating it," Bellamy said.
Luther Ford as teenage Prince Harry
Also debuting this season is Ford as Prince Harry.
Ford was about to start his final year studying directing at Bournemouth Film School when his brother’s girlfriend sent him the open casting call for Harry, said Tudum.
The young actor said that he had no prior experience but went for the auditions because "it’ll be a great anecdote to say, ‘Oh I auditioned for Harry in The Crown.’"
Fflyn Edwards essayed Harry in Part 1 of the season.
Also featured
Bertie Carvel as Tony Blair
Khalid Abdalla as Dodi Fayed
Lesley Manville as Princess Margaret
Salim Daw as Mohamed al-Fayed
Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@gannett.com and follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter @saman_shafiq7.
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