Dominic West had to be corrected by The Crown’s on-set etiquette adviser after making a royal faux pas on the set of season six.
The British actor starred as the then-Prince Charles in the fifth and sixth seasons of Netflix’s historical drama. The show came to an end earlier this month, as the second half of season six arrived on the streamer.
But while former Eton attendee West has plenty of personal experience with the upper classes, it has now been revealed that the actor made a major mistake about “posh people” while filming the final run of episodes.
Speaking in a new interview, The Crown’s head researcher Annie Sulzberger revealed that West had been shooting a dinner scene when he was stopped mid-shoot by the show’s etiquette adviser, David Rankin-Hunt.
Mr Rankin-Hunt, who is a member of the royal household at St James’s Palace, noticed West going to eat his asparagus with cutlery, and told him: “Posh people don’t eat asparagus with knives and forks – they use their fingers.”
Ms Sulzberger told History Extra: “We reset and reshot it with Dom picking up the asparagus with his fingers.”
She added: “It’s important to have so many voices who can chime in with their experience because I don’t think I would have been able to look up the way in which two posh people would have eaten asparagus back in 1992.”
West as Charles in ‘The Crown'— (Netflix)
Mr Rankin-Hunt’s advice has previously been backed by former royal butler Grant Harrold. He told the Daily Mail in 2012: “You must always use a knife and fork unless you’re eating asparagus.”
The Crown’s final run of episodes saw Peter Morgan’s drama enter the 21st century. The show concluded with Charles’s marriage to Camilla Parker Bowles (Olivia Williams) in 2005, and the Queen considering whether she would retire or not.
In a recent interview, West admitted that he’d considered not taking the role of Charles as he knew it would scupper any chance of ever getting a knighthood.
Speaking about the show on BBC radio, West, who had previously met the real Charles through his work with the Prince’s Trust, was asked if he had needed to consider any problems that could arise from accepting the role.
West admitted that he was unlikely to get a knighthood after taking on the role— (Netflix)
“I suppose having to forgo the British empire medal that I might have got for services to acting,” he said. “It was all right for [Prince Philip actor Jonathan Pryce], who had already been knighted.”
West explained that he’d met Charles before being cast as the royal, saying: “I have. I’ve done a bit of stuff for the Prince’s Trust so I’ve stood in line and shook his hand a couple of times, so not particularly intimate.” However, West said, after taking on the role, “those invitations dried up”.
Despite this, the star of The Wire said he had been drawn to the role of Charles because it was such a challenge.
“Someone like me can’t turn down a part like Charles. He’s so interesting. He’s so complex,” he said. “I did agonise for a while about it, but my wife tells me the result was always inevitable.”
‘The Crown’ is on Netflix now
