A young actor has landed her first professional role playing Kate Middleton in hit Netflix series The Crown.
Meg Bellamy, 19, a former head girl at St Crispin’s school in Wokingham, Berkshire, was picked after submitting a self-taped audition after a casting call put out on social media.
Also making their screen debuts will be Ed McVey, 21, and Rufus Kampa, 16, who will both play young versions of the Duchess of Cambridge’s now-husband, Prince William.
All three will appear in the show’s sixth and final series, which will begin shooting later this year.
The Crown is a historical drama chronicling the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, with the sixth series expected to depict the years after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997.
Kampa will reportedly play Prince William in the immediate aftermath of his mother’s death, while McVey and Bellamy will play the duke and duchess during their time as students at the University of St Andrews, where they met in 2001.
Bellamy is understood to have won the role only months after leaving St Crispin’s, a comprehensive, and has no professional acting experience, the Daily Telegraph reported.
She was reportedly awarded an A* in her drama A-level and starred in a number of school productions, and is also said to have worked as a performer at Legoland in nearby Windsor.
McVey graduated from the Drama Centre London in 2021 and has worked as an understudy in the play Camp Siegfried at the Old Vic, but is yet to appear on screen.
Kampa has appeared in a number of stage productions, most recently as the title character in a musical version of The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 & 3/4s, and as the Artful Dodger in Oliver!
Other stars to have appeared in The Crown include Olivia Colman, who played the Queen; Matt Smith, who played Prince Philip; and Helena Bonham Carter, who played Princess Margaret.
The fifth series, due to air in November, will include a whole new cast, with Imelda Staunton as the Queen, Jonathan Pryce as Prince Philip, and Lesley Manville as Princess Margaret.
The series will also feature Dominic West as Prince Charles and Elizabeth Debicki as Diana, Princess of Wales.
Asked about the show last year, Prince Harry described it as “fictional” but “loosely based on the truth”.
“It gives you a rough idea about what that lifestyle, the pressures of putting duty and service above family and everything else, what can come from that,” he said.
