Dominic West has claimed that King Charles gave him his blessing to portray him in the forthcoming fifth season of The Crown.
After landing the role in the upcoming Netflix series, Dominic said he had attempted to resign from his role as ambassador for the Prince’s Trust, because he feared that his performance as Charles would represent a conflict of interest.
According to the actor, he then received a letter from the King’s private secretary, turning down his resignation.
“It was, ‘You do what you like, you’re an actor. It’s nothing to do with us’,” Dominic said of the letter’s contents to The Times. “I think that’s probably how [the King] regards it.”
Dominic takes over from Josh O’Connor to play Charles in the latest series of The Crown, which returns to Netflix next week.
He will portray the then-Prince-of-Wales in the 1990s, in storylines which will cover his marriage breakdown to Princess Diana and the infamous “Tampongate” phone call.
He recently told Radio Times that the Queen Consort was relaxed about his involvement after she jokingly addressed him as “Your Majesty” at a party last year.
Dominic said that he believes that misogyny played a part in attitudes towards Camilla Parker-Bowles during the 1990s.
“I never really thought about it at the time, but the research showed me how badly Camilla was treated,” he said.
“I don’t think that would happen today. It happened for many reasons, one of them being she’s a woman.”
While anticipation for the new series of The Crown is high, the show has already come under fire from some critics due to its fictionalised depiction of real events.
Some critics – including former prime minister John Major, who is played in the show by Jonny Lee Miller – have argued The Crown does not make it clear enough that the show is intended as a work of fiction, with a disclaimer highlighting this fact having recently been added to the season five trailer.
Newcomer Elizabeth Debicki, who has taken over the role of Princess Diana from Emma Corrin in season 5, has responded to the controversy already surrounding the upcoming series.
Speaking in the latest issue of Radio Times, Elizabeth said she hopes that people can “maybe stop talking about it and move on” now this disclaimer has been added.
“I respect people’s points of view and I, being an actor in the show, understand the nature of what the show is,” she explained.
“It was always very clear to me that one can never know what happens behind closed doors, and that a writer is interpreting what may have happened.”
The Widows star continued: “It’s a tricky thing to speak about because I would like people to watch it and make up their own minds.
“There’s a huge amount of room for interpretation, and that’s the value and beauty of The Crown as well, that you receive a different message depending on who you are. That’s good drama to me.”