After originally planning to end The Crown at season five, Netflix renewed the royal drama for another season, which means not only do we see more of Princess Diana, but we get Prince William and Prince Harry as grown-ups – something the show’s creators originally said they were going to avoid doing in order to keep the timeline in the past.
Furthermore, we’re going to be introduced to Kate Middleton, now the Princess of Wales, who met Prince William when they were at university in Scotland together.
Filming for the sixth season has already begun with a young Kate and Wills, played by Meg Bellamy and Ed McVey, pictured on set at the real university campus, The University of St. Andrews, where the royal couple’s love story began.
In the first photos captured of the pair filming, the actors are seen on a foggy day wearing jackets and jeans. One scene appears to show an early 20s Middleton (Bellamy) holding a book as she rushes to class walking past Prince William (McVey), who’s sitting with friends and stares longingly at her as she passes. Note the Uggs on her feet and her very of the time flares, iconic.
The duchess’s signature long brown waves styled in a middle part are recreated perfectly and so too is her huge smile:
In another scene, the pair are pictured walking together with the Princess of Wales holding hands with the university boyfriend she had before she started dating Prince William.
Almost immediately after the images were uploaded to the internet, people began comparing them to another love story of our times: Bella Swan and Edward Cullen from Twilight. It’s the brunette and the blonde, it’s the cold weather. It’s the desperate stares.
But that’s not all. Real students are on campus as filming is taking place, and they’re really making the most of it. On TikTok, as the show’s creators film a scene showing William running after Kate, someone yells out “go get your girl,” which, I’m assuming, isn’t on the script.
@shark_bateman will and kate DUPE #thecrown #willandkate #standrews #royalfamily #standrewsuni #thecrownnetflix #princewilliam #katemidddleton #ukroyals #standrewsuni
Of renewing the show for another season, creator Peter Morgan said in a statement to Deadline, “As we started to discuss the storylines for Series 5, it soon became clear that in order to do justice to the richness and complexity of the story we should go back to the original plan and do six seasons.”
The show, unfortunately, doesn’t plan to bring us any closer to the present day — so no, no Meghan Markle — but instead enable the show to cover the same period in greater detail, which, unfortunately, includes Princess Diana’s untimely death.
Per IndieWire, Netflix has confirmed that series will only show events before and after the fatal car crash, with a spokesperson saying that “the exact moment of the crash impact will not be shown.”
