The Crown star Dominic West says Charles was judged too harshly in the aftermath of Diana’s death: Actor says King was treated as the ‘villain of the piece’ but he has ‘real affection of him’

Charles was judged too harshly when Princess Diana died, actor Dominic West, who played him in The Crown, has claimed.

The star, 54, who took the role of the Prince of Wales in the final two series of the Netflix show, believes that history should be kinder to the now King, who he believes has ‘made every mistake going’.

Mr West, previously most famous for his role as Jimmy McNulty in The Wire, believes Charles was seen as a ‘villain’ after his ex-wife died with Dodi Fayed on the night of August 30. 

He said: ‘I adore him. I feel real affection for him’. 

In season six, which premiered last month with the final episodes released last week, Charles crumbles into tears when he learns of his ex-wife’s death in Paris.  He then defied his mother and pushed for the royal plane to be sent to France to collect her coffin, sobbing loudly when he saw her body for the first time at the Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital.

Mr West said: ‘You do feel a sympathy for him. I think that, particularly around Diana’s death, he was the villain of the piece. And I think perhaps now that we’ve had 25 years of retrospective to look back on, we might judge that — I certainly have judged that — as being a bit harsh on him’.

Dominic West says he will miss playing Charles now The Crown is over, and believes he was treated harshly over the death of Diana, played by Elizabeth Debicki

Debicki as Diana with her sons William and Harry on the show

The final moments of Princess Diana’s life, before the fatal car crash in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel in Paris, are depicted in the final series of The Crown

Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince William, Earl Spencer, Prince Harry and Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales follow the coffin of Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, West said: ‘I’m fighting for him as one does as an actor for any character, except perhaps the most villainous. Inevitably, you’re trying to get inside the mind of your character and that requires a sort of sense of common humanity and empathy’.

He said he has grown to ‘adore’ playing Charles in the show, admitting he is sad that the role has ended.

FOR MORE ON THE CROWN LISTEN TO THE UNMISSABLE MAIL PODCAST: THE CROWN: FACT OR FICTION

Did Prince William really blame his father for Diana’s death? 

Find out in the new episode of our unmissable podcast The Crown: Fact of Fiction

And keep listening to find out the truth about Harry’s Nazi costume

In an interview with Town and Country he said: ‘I miss him. I’m still reading all the news articles about him. I adore him. I feel real affection for him, which I didn’t particularly feel before’, adding: ‘He’s likable, as well as an interesting character’.

He referenced recent events, such as Charles’ anger when his pen failed to work after the Queen died. 

‘It’s hard not to bring the present man into the historic man, or even the real man into Peter Morgan’s version of him. But it was a wonderful gift to have all that coronation stuff and the pen—the irritation about the pen. You don’t get many glimpses of what’s going on behind the public persona. So I greedily devoured all those moments. They are gold dust to an actor, really’.

He added: ‘He’s made every mistake going. He’s been through it all, it’s been about as bad as it can get. And he’s been grilled about as hard as he possibly could be. And so I imagine, like with so much in his life, I think there’s a certain resolution now he’s King. I think there’s a certain, probably relief, that he no longer is allowed to be political or outspoken’.

He added: ‘He’s landed on his feet—or with a crown on his head, more accurately’. 

The last series of The Crown has proved controversial and had mixed reviews, from the depiction of Diana’s death to Charles’ wedding to Camilla and the Queen’s existential crisis over the future of the monarchy.

The Crown looks at Diana’s romance with Dodi – played by Khalid Abdalla

There are also a series of bizarre dream sequences when senior royals including the Queen and Charles speak with the late Princess, played by Elizabeth Debicki, after her death.

Harry’s embarrassment over wearing a Nazi uniform to a party has been gleefully recreated by Netflix in the very last episode of The Crown.

But in this case, the prince’s closeness to the streaming service appears to have paid off. Harry, who has a reported £80million production deal with Netflix, has notably shied away from criticising the series’ increasingly cartoonish plotlines.

The on-screen portrayal of his Nazi debacle appears to stay close to his own recollection of the incident in his memoir, Spare. In the book, Harry took little in the way of responsibility for his actions, effectively blaming Prince William and his then-girlfriend Kate, for egging him on.

The Crown has the trio – played by Ed McVey, Luther Ford and Meg Bellamy – at a costume shop in the Cotswolds, planning for the ‘natives and colonials’ themed party.

While William is going as a lion, his younger brother is undecided on what to do until coming across a uniform of the Afrika Korps – Rommel’s troops in North Africa – complete with swastika armband. ‘Germany had an empire, didn’t they?’ he asks in the scene. ‘What about this?’ ‘I don’t know,’ Kate replies. ‘Maybe cover the swastika?’ But William comes to his brother’s defence.

‘Oh, come on. Wearing the outfit doesn’t make him a Nazi. Isn’t that the joke?’ he adds. In the mirror, a gleeful Harry, then aged 20, does the ‘Heil Hitler’ salute as he makes his choice.

Harry’s embarrassment over wearing a Nazi uniform to a party has been gleefully recreated by Netflix in the very last episode of The Crown

The Crown has the trio – played by Ed McVey, Luther Ford and Meg Bellamy – at a costume shop in the Cotswolds, planning for the ‘natives and colonials’ themed party

At the party, hosted by Olympic showjumper Richard Meade, Harry is photographed by two shocked guests who sell the pictures to The Sun.

The Royal Family are then shown examining the front pages in horror, while the young prince shouts obscenities as he realises his mistake. In a later scene, the two brothers row over the scandal at supper with their father.

‘You were all for the uniform, egging me on,’ Harry hit out. ‘Suddenly you’re Mr Morality. Stabbing me in the back… how many faces does this man have?’ William then says: ‘I’m not sure I like who you’re turning into.’

‘Not sure I like who you’ve been,’ Harry angrily replies.

In Spare, there is no suggestion that William and Kate were ever at the fancy dress shop at the same time. But Harry does very much paint himself as a victim, claiming the pair promised to help him find a suitable outfit.

The prince says he called them to discuss his options, explaining it was a toss-up between the uniform of an RAF pilot or a Nazi.

He wrote: ‘I phoned Willy and Kate, asked what they thought. Nazi uniform, they said.’ He describes taking it home and trying it on for them – adding a ‘proper Hitler’ moustache – and ‘they both howled’.

He said William was ‘sympathetic’ at the resulting furore but ‘there wasn’t much to say’. His father was surprisingly understanding, but a public apology was deemed necessary.

The Crown’s award-winning writer, Peter Morgan, has insisted he hasn’t read ‘a word’ of Spare, adding: ‘I didn’t want his voice to inhabit my thinking too much’.

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