The saga of The Crown and the dramatized reign of Queen Elizabeth II is coming to an end with the second half of Season 6, and the show has never been closer to catching up to present day. Gone are the days of Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher and King George VI; viewers will see the Netflix drama's take on Prince William and Kate Middleton's early days of courtship. That includes an iconic sheer dress, and it's worth digging into how it captured the attention of the future king.
Meg Bellamy joined the cast of The Crown to play Kate Middleton opposite Ed McVey as Prince William, and the story of William and Kate will include an infamous encounter from 2002, when both were students at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. While the series that ranks as one of the best shows to binge-watch on Netflix will presumably take some liberties with the true story, Today reports that Middleton's outfit during a student fashion show is said to have caught the prince's attention in real life.
The real-life version of the dress was constructed for less than $50 in 2002 by the future husband and wife's classmate Charlotte Todd for the school's fashion show, known as "The Art of Seduction," according to People. According to Todd, it was "just pure chance" that the then-19-year-old Kate Middleton ended up in the sheer dress. Todd shared "everyone says that the fashion show was when the romance started." The dress was knitted and see-through from almost top to bottom.
Take a look at The Crown's recreation for Meg Bellamy to wear:
It's safe to say that the version of the dress that appears in the second half of Season 6 cost a lot more than the less than $50 for the original! The Crown's dress was designed by lead costume designer Amy Roberts and associate designer Sidonie Roberts, who used brown and gold net fabric in a layer, with blue ribbon at the bottom and a blue band at the top. Amy Roberts said this about the dress, via Tudum:
That [dress] was deliberate. She wore that to catch William’s attention — that dress is not hiding anything.
While fans will have to check out Season 6B with a Netflix subscription after it debuts in the 2023 Netflix TV premiere schedule on December 14, the drama went the extra mile to sell the moment of Kate catching William's attention on the runway. Ed McVey didn't see Meg Bellamy in the dress before they began filming the pivotal scene, and the actor revealed that "what you see was the first couple of takes of me just being wowed by her."
Find out if you too are wowed by Meg Bellamy as Kate Middleton in the sheer dress with the final episodes of The Crown on Netflix as the 2023 TV season winds down. New shows will arrive in the new year, with plenty of options on our 2024 TV schedule to try once The Crown has come to an end.
