The Princess of Wales' "grace" and "incredible presence of mind" have been praised as key considerations when casting for the royal in the upcoming final season of Netflix's hit drama, The Crown.
For the first time, Kate will be introduced as a character in the show's final episodes, which will hit screens on December 14, charting the course of her early relationship with future husband Prince William.
Among the most highly anticipated character introductions in the show's six-season run, the search for an actress to play Kate in her college years was a global undertaking, scanning agencies, schools and social media, before finally settling on newcomer British actor Meg Bellamy.
"It was a big deal finding this particular character," The Crown's casting director, Robert Sterne, told Newsweek ahead of the show's finale.
"We just gave ourselves a lot of time...I looked for about six months for that character."
"We're looking for a teenager," he said. "So somebody to play a teenager. So you're not looking necessarily for somebody with a lot of experience, although that can happen. And we looked far and wide."
After scanning every available avenue, Sterne revealed that Bellamy had been found after she "responded to a social media post." The English-born actress grew up in the same county as Kate, attending school in Berkshire, where the Middleton family's Bucklebury Manor home is located.
Discussing the challenges and important aspects of portraying Kate on-screen, Sterne explained that in the years covered by The Crown, the princess was dealing with enormous pressure.
"What was important about the portrayal of Kate was, you know, she's young, she's just left school," he said. "She's dealing with quite a lot of things and a lot of pressure in her life but with an amazing degree of grace and graciousness under pressure and has an incredible presence of mind."
He also noted that a key element to casting for Kate was that the chemistry with the actor playing Prince William should be clear.
"You also want to feel that when William meets her," he said, "that William has come home in some sense."
Playing opposite Bellamy in the show as William is another newcomer to the screen, actor Ed McVey.
"That dynamic between those two actors and those two characters had to work," Sterne explained: "And they had that."
The show will cover William and Kate's relationship from their first meeting and early friendship at St Andrew's University in 2001, to their developing romance in 2005, where the series is expected to close with the wedding of King Charles III (Dominic West) and Queen Camilla (Olivia Williams).
The Crown Season 6 Part 2 will be available to stream on Netflix from December 14.
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jrcrawfordsmith 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 royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.
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About the writer
James Crawford-Smith is a Newsweek Royal Reporter, based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on the British royal family ... Read more
