A smooch in a trailer for the latest instalment of The Crown reveals it will focus on the love story between Kate Middleton and Prince William.
And it has emerged that writer Peter Morgan will create a fictional Sliding Doors-type backstory for the couple, in which the pair meet as young teenagers, accompanied by their mothers Princess Diana and Carole Middleton.
In the second part of the sixth season of the Netflix series, which starts on December 14, Mr Morgan imagines a day in December 1996 when Kate and her mother leave a dress shop in London… and, by sheer chance, run into Princess Diana, who is with William and selling copies of The Big Issue for charity.
Mrs Middleton and Kate dash across the street to buy a copy and Kate and William lock eyes. Cupid strikes! Diana asks Kate her name and tells her son: ‘Say thank you to Kate.’
This invented meeting sows the seeds for Kate to develop a ‘crush’ on Prince William and leads to Mrs Middleton making sure that her daughter does the same course as the prince at St Andrews University in Scotland.
A smooch in a trailer for the latest instalment of The Crown reveals it will focus on the love story between Kate Middleton and Prince William
The new series imagines a day in December 1996 when Kate and her mother leave a dress shop in London… and, by sheer chance, run into Princess Diana, who is with William and selling copies of The Big Issue for charity
Of course, Prince William and Kate, who married in April 2011, did indeed meet at St Andrews.
And The Crown recreates the real-life moment when Kate appeared on the catwalk at a university fashion show in a see-through dress which was a ‘lightning bolt’ moment for the prince.
In real life, by the time William met Kate, Princess Diana had already died in a car crash in Paris in 1997.
But although Princess Diana never went out selling The Big Issue accompanied by a young Prince William, it is true that she campaigned on issues surrounding homelessness and was a strong supporter of the social enterprise which helps vulnerable people back on their feet.
She regularly bought the magazine from vendor Frank McGucken and he recalled last year: ‘Lady Diana used to come to me, privately, on her own, and buy the paper.
‘I used to see her on a regular basis in Beauchamp Place when she was on her way to the gym in Chelsea Harbour.
‘She had it all. But she had respect for homeless people. She used to give me a beautiful smile.’
Last year, Prince William sold the magazine in London with vendor Dave Martin.
But although Princess Diana never went out selling The Big Issue accompanied by a young Prince William, it is true that she campaigned on issues surrounding homelessness (Pictured: Diana, William and Harry at a homeless shelter in 1994)
Kate Middleton and her mother pictured at the Spirit of Christmas Shopping Festival in Olympia, London
Of course, Prince William and Kate, who married in April 2011, did indeed meet at St Andrews (File Photo)
And The Crown recreates the real-life moment when Kate appeared on the catwalk (pictured) at a university fashion show in a see-through dress which was a ‘lightning bolt’ moment for the prince
It has emerged that writer Peter Morgan (pictured) will create a fictional Sliding Doors-type backstory for the couple, in which the pair meet as young teenagers, accompanied by their mothers Princess Diana and Carole Middleton
The Prince of Wales has been a patron of the youth homelessness charity Centrepoint since 2005 and, in 2009, he spent a night sleeping on a street in London to raise awareness about the organisation’s work.
In a recent interview with Deadline Hollywood, The Crown’s director Christian Schwochow said that the aim was ‘to create our truth, which is hopefully as truthful as you can get in fiction’.
The first part of what will be the final series of the show has already run into controversy after featuring scenes in which both the late Queen and Prince Charles meet Princess Diana after her death. Netflix, however, has insisted that she is not a ghost.
