Luther Ford—who plays Prince Harry in The Crown—told Newsweek he “felt daunted” when he first saw the script, which includes lines on sex, drugs and Nazi uniforms.
The Duke of Sussex is depicted as a sex-obsessed teenager in the latest episodes of the show, in which he at one stage asks Prince William if any of the girls at university are “woof.”
The show also references a tabloid scandal about Prince Harry smoking cannabis, and the image of him wearing a Nazi uniform to a costume party.
Chris Jackson – Pool/Getty Images
Perhaps the most embarrassing moment for the real Harry, though, comes when the character pulls out a present box and gives it to William in front of Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Charles and other senior royals.
William opens the box to find a condom, which the Queen Mother, played by Marcia Warren, promptly snatches out of his hand and examines.
“Yeah, the condoms,” Ford told Newsweek. “When I read it, I felt daunted. It was always the way with the family scenes, once we got into the room it was just very nice, the atmosphere is so good on set that it was immediately comfortable.
“I felt a little bit bad saying it to the Queen Mother. And her just beaming at me. But generally it was alright. It was fine.”
Meg Bellamy, who plays Kate Middleton, added: “She’s so pure,” while Ed McVey, who plays William, said: “It’s because Marcia’s just so lovely.”
Ford also said he used the audio book version of Spare, which Harry narrated himself, to get in character: “I listened to the audio book actually because it was quite helpful with the voice and the time period.
“I think it’s something obviously that Peter and the Crown explores.”
“There’s already a lot of competition between normal people, normal siblings,” he added. “So then when that is in something like the royal family it takes on a new meaning.”
The show also depicts Carole Middleton pulling strings behind the scenes to try to get Kate close to William in a plot line that risks hitting a raw nerve at Kensington Palace.
Bellamy told Newsweek: “I think it’s a really interesting dynamic between Kate and her mum. I think Carole is a very strong character and has such ambition for both of her daughters and that manifests in wanting the best education, the best everything, the best upbringing and the best people surrounded by Kate and that kind of includes of course Prince William in her eyes.
“When it was announced that Prince William was going to St Andrews everybody was swept up in this frenzy I think everyone was changing universities and so Kate’s obviously part of that generation.”
Jack Royston is chief royal correspondent for Newsweek, based in London. You can find him on X, formerly Twitter, at @jack_royston and read his stories on Newsweek’s The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email [email protected]. We’d love to hear from you.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.