Dominic West on being ‘a little bit in love with Diana’

As he takes the global stage as then-Prince Charles in Season 5 of The Crown, Dominic West comes clean about the pressure he felt on set, and the fate of the monarchy beyond the small screen.

William Shakespeare famously said: “Heavy is the head that wears the crown” – and that’s certainly true for actor Imelda Staunton.

The Oscar-nominated star has a hard act to follow, taking over Queen Elizabeth II’s TV reign from Olivia Colman, who like Claire Foy before her, won numerous accolades as a younger version of the monarch in Netflix’s hit series The Crown.

Adding to the pressure, the veteran British actor is rehashing some of the Queen’s darkest days at a time when public affection for the recently deceased leader is at an all-time high.

The promos alone for this controversial season have sparked outrage about “disrespectful” storylines involving Prince Philip’s affair with a close friend, Charles plotting against his mother, and Diana’s infamous Panorama interview (which her sons William and Harry had requested never air again following revelations about Martin Bashir’s manipulations).

Concern reached such a fever pitch that Dame Judi Dench called for Netflix to add a

disclaimer advising viewers that The Crown is a work of fiction “for the sake of a family

and a nation so recently bereaved, as a mark of respect to a sovereign who served her

people so dutifully for 70 years”.

Last month, the streaming service followed suit – and has labelled the show a “fictional dramatisation”.

While Staunton says she had no hesitation about accepting the much-talked-about role – she and co-stars Lesley Manville (Princess Margaret) and Jonathan Pryce (Philip) were all cast years before the Queen’s death – she admits that it was still a “terrifying prospect”.

“But the production was so sublime, and these people are interesting and complicated. And [creator] Peter [Morgan] gives you an imagined life behind the doors. But it’s not ridiculous,” Staunton tells The Binge Guide.

“We all try to tread a very truthful line, and the challenge of playing people who are, for all intents and purposes, constrained by their lives and their duty and their relationships, in some cases, is a great acting challenge. So to try to keep the standards up from the previous four

seasons was a privilege.”

According to fellow British actor Matt Smith, who played Philip in the first two seasons, the Queen was said to have secretly enjoyed watching The Crown.

But Staunton rolls her eyes at the idea that the Queen may have spent her Sunday nights absorbed in the Netflix drama.

Dominic West confesses he’s always been ‘a little bit in love with Diana’ Picture: Matt Crocket

In fact, the actor adds that she didn’t give too much thought to how the Queen felt about either the show or Staunton being cast to portray her.

“Because I don’t think that’s why it’s being made,” Staunton explains. “To be honest, that’s not in my head at all. One is sad that she has now died. But what I love is that she has had a long and, I hope, fulfilling and at times happy life. “So, I think The Crown, watching her own life being dramatised – I don’t think it was something she needed to do. She had horses to ride, she had dogs to tend to. So I think watching it might have been quite low on her list.”

Pryce admits that he had heard that “certain members of the family” had devoured The Crown like everyone else, however, he acknowledges, this particular chapter – which deals with the deaths of Margaret, the Queen Mother and Diana, as well as multiple affairs and the 1992 fire at Windsor Castle – had been a painful period for the family and, given how recent those events were, would be less of a “history lesson” to viewers.

It was for this reason that Dominic West,who plays Charles, says “everybody felt so much responsibility playing these parts in such a sad time. More people have witnessed the events in this season than any previous season,” he adds, as Olivia Williams, who plays Camilla, nods in agreement.

“And certainly when I was first doing a screen test and standing next to Elizabeth Debicki – who looked extremely like Diana and I looked extremely not like Charles – I felt very daunted by it, and it took quite a long time to sort of feel at ease with it, and to realise that ultimately, you’re making the part yourself and you’re playing the scene that’s on the page.”

West – who admits that he was “a little bit in love with Diana” when he was younger – says the upcoming season examines Charles’ insecurity over whether he will ever fulfil his destiny and become king.

“You forget there were genuine doubts about him and now, of course, all those questions have been answered very emphatically,” West adds.

“And instantly, people have embraced him as the new monarch, which was not the case at the time that season five covers when there was much talk of, you know, whether he should be leapfrogged over in favour of William.”

The new king and his Queen Consort may be bracing themselves for another backlash given that season four reignited ill feeling towards Camilla, and this season delves more deeply into the complicated love triangle.

Although West believes that most people will already have a strong opinion on the affair, he feels this new season would offer a balanced view of both sides. “I think these were very challenging times for the monarchy generally, and I think, certainly in terms of Charles’ life – and Camilla’s – it’s the absolute nadir,” he says.

Williams adds: “It’s an extraordinary thing to re-enact these dreadful events. And I think we have to keep on bringing it back to the fact that we’re only depicting them as they have a bearing on the crown, on the movement of the monarchy from one generation to the next.”

And these things did threaten the crown. And particularly the press interpretation of these events, did shake the foundations and that’s what the subject is of [this] series.”

Season 5 of The Crown premieres on Wednesday on Netflix.

Originally published as Dominic West on being ‘a little bit in love with Diana’