The creator of The Crown, Peter Morgan, has opened up about casting Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in the Netflix series. The creator says that he has a ‘20 year rule’ that may impact the casting.
The Crown has focused on the life of the Royal family over a span of six decades. The first season started in 1947, and the most recent fourth season concluded in 1990. Peter Morgan, the showrunner and creator of The Crown, states that his own personal ‘20 year rule’ will stop him from casting Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in the Netflix series.
The creator told the Hollywood Reporter in 2020, "I don't know where in the scheme of things Prince Andrew or indeed Meghan Markle or Harry will ever appear. We won't know, and you need time to stop something from being journalistic. And so I don't want to write about them because to write about them would instantly make it journalistic."
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Peter continued, "I just think you get so much more interesting [with time]. Meghan and Harry are in the middle of their journey, and I don't know what their journey is or how it will end. One wishes some happiness, but I'm much more comfortable writing about things that happened at least 20 years ago. I sort of have in my head a 20-year rule. That is enough time and enough distance to really understand something, to understand its role, to understand its position, to understand its relevance. "
He concluded by saying, "There've been wives that have been married into the Royal family that have felt unwelcome and that they don't fit in. So there are plenty of stories to tell without telling the story of Harry and Meghan."
Although it seems unlikely that Prince Harry and Meghan will have their stories retold on The Crown, Prince Harry does have an actor in mind to play him in the Netflix show.
In an interview with James Corden, Prince Harry said that he had watched bits of The Crown and would like to be played by Damian Lewis if he had to cast an actor. Damian Lewis famously played Steve McQueen in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Nicholas Brody in Homeland.
James Corden also questioned in the interview what other royal family members think about The Crown and what Prince Harry thinks of The Crown.“They don't pretend to be news," said Harry. "It's fictional, but it's loosely based on the truth. Of course, it's not strictly accurate, but loosely, it gives you a rough idea about what that lifestyle, what the pressures of putting duty and service above family and everything else, what can come from that.”
He then compared The Crown to the British press. "I'm way more comfortable with The Crown than I am seeing the stories written about my family or my wife or myself. Because it's the difference between - that [The Crown] is obviously fiction, take it how you will, but this [the press] is being reported as fact because you're supposedly news. I have a real issue with that," said Prince Harry.
Members of the cast, Gillian Anderson and Emma Corrin reacted to Prince Harry's views on The Crown. The stars who play Margaret Thatcher and Princess Diana, respectively, both agreed that Prince Harry would have a better perception of the true events that The Crown is based on and appreciated his input.
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