English actor Dominic West sent a private letter to then-Prince Charles after he was offered the role of playing him on the upcoming season of The Crown.
The 53-year-old TV star had close ties with the British royal family as an ambassador for the Prince’s Trust, a charity founded byCharles in 1976.
Concerned about the conflict of interest, West reached out to Charles informing him he would be playing him for season five of the Netflix show and that he ultimately wished to resign from the trust.
Shortly afterwards, he received a surprising response from Charles’ press secretary.
He said the response was along the lines of: “‘You do what you like, you’re an actor, it’s nothing to do with us’.” West told Radio Times, adding that Charles ultimately rejected his resignation.
Dominic West as Prince Charles in The Crown, Season 5. Photo / Supplied
While the encounter didn’t give a whole lot away in terms of how Charles felt about the show, it appears at least Camilla is a fan of West’s casting.
The Wire actor told how the Queen Consort referred to him as “Your Majesty” when they ran into each other at a party last year.
Elsewhere, British actress Imelda Staunton, 66, who will play the late Queen in seasons five and six, also sat down for an interview alongside West, where she spoke of being “inconsolable” after the monarch died in September.
The Harry Potter actress said she had been filming scenes as Her Majesty on September 8 – the day the Queen died – and didn’t find out about her death until filming wrapped for the day.
Imelda Staunton will star as the Queen in the new season of The Crown next month. Photo / AP
“They couldn’t have filmed on this face,” she admitted of her sadness.
Meanwhile, The Crown’s November 9 premiere comes at a particularly bad time for King Charles.
Just a matter of weeks into his job as monarch, the most scandalous period in Charles’ life is set to play out on one of the most-streamed shows in the world, with the fifth season set during the 1990s amid the salacious breakdown of his marriage to Princess Diana.
While the royals have never commented on the TV show, a senior royal source told the Telegraph last month that the palace has “moved to protect” the new King, with the official emphasising the show is “a drama, not a documentary”.
