EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: The Crown sends plea for Prince William lookalike

hit has won critical plaudits and huge ratings from depicting royal crises, but now the producers of the show face one of their own.

For I can disclose that they are still desperately searching for a teenage actor to play in the eagerly anticipated final series, even though filming is due to start in just a few weeks’ time.

Casting director Robert Sterne has issued a last-ditch appeal on showbusiness websites, urging suitable candidates to come forward.

‘The Crown is searching for an exceptional young actor to play Prince William in the next series,’ the advert states.

‘This is a significant role in this award-winning drama, and we are looking for a strong physical resemblance. Shooting will commence in early September.’

In an effort to widen the field of potential candidates, the ad stresses: ‘No previous professional acting experience is required.
We are very experienced in providing a great deal of support for the young actors and their families through what they find a uniquely rewarding, creative process.’

The producers are also still searching for ‘any bright and cheeky redhead boys willing to have a go’ at playing Prince Harry in the drama, said to cost more than £10 million an episode.

I do hope budding young stars haven’t been put off by controversy surrounding The Crown. Netflix was accused of trolling the Royal Family after a ‘sinister’ post on its official social media account prompted a wave of online hate for Prince Charles and Camilla.

The final series will see William and Harry dealing with the aftermath of Princess Diana’s death.

Netflix has also confirmed that season five will depict disgraced Martin Bashir’s Panorama interview with the Princess, with a source close to the show saying it will portray ‘what we now know about how the interview was obtained and how Diana was treated’.

Diana’s friend Jemima Goldsmith cut ties with the show last year, claiming that the producers had not treated the storyline ‘as respectfully and compassionately as I had hoped’.

Netflix insists it’s not experiencing difficulties.

‘The casting team are very experienced,’ a spokesman says. ‘The actors may not be needed on set for months and casting generally takes longer for younger actors.’

This is unlikely to improve relations with her new mother-in-law, Victoria Beckham.
U.S. billionaire’s daughter Nicola Peltz has said she chose a wedding dress by Valentino because fashion designer Victoria was unable to create one herself. ‘I really wanted to, and then a few months down the line, she realised that her atelier couldn’t do it, so then I had to pick another dress,’ Brooklyn Beckham’s wife tells Variety.

‘She didn’t say you can’t wear it; I didn’t say I didn’t want to wear it. That’s where it [the rumours] started.’ The lady doth protest too much, methinks.

Harry’s old haunt serves last pizza

No doubt missing the patronage of Prince Harry, who was a regular customer, Bunga Bunga has closed down.

I hear the Italian-themed pizza restaurant in Battersea, South London, where the Duke of Sussex was once pictured dancing in the street (right), shut its doors for the final time last month.

‘The lease on the premises came to an end during the pandemic and the landlord would not offer a sufficient extension of tenure,’ explains Old Etonian owner Charlie Gilkes, a friend of the royals.

Bunga Bunga was named after the debauched parties in Italy allegedly attended by the country’s ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi.

Gilkes says another London branch in Covent Garden will remain open.

Nervy that tomorrow’s Sovereign’s Parade at Sandhurst might lead to officer cadets ‘Passing Out’ literally — as two, I’m told, have done in rehearsals during the heatwave — the Army’s top brass has decreed the parade will start 90 minutes early.

The rescheduling means a brutally prompt start for friends and family. ‘Those attending will need to RV at the Yorktown Gate to the Academy no later than 07:30hrs,’ warns the invitation. The MoD declines to comment on the alleged incident during rehearsals. 

 Welsh puts a ring on Taggart star’s finger

Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh may have finally found a happy ending.

The twice-divorced novelist and playwright, 63, got married yesterday, to Taggart actress Emma Currie.

‘Knot tied,’ confirms the Scottish dock worker’s son. ‘All good in the world.’

Currie added: ‘Today I married the love of my life.’

Edinburgh-born Welsh says the couple enjoyed an ‘old-fashioned courtship’ after meeting up for socially-distanced coffees during lockdown.

Welsh split from second wife, Beth Quinn, in 2017, after nearly 15 years together.

It may feel as if most of London’s beau monde has upped sticks to Ibiza or Mykonos for the summer, but the capital has welcomed one glamorous young heiress.

Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates’s younger daughter, Phoebe, is staying in West London with her mother, Melinda French Gates, and her boyfriend.

Stanford University student Phoebe, 19, has been seen at luxury landmarks including Sketch restaurant in Mayfair and Peggy Porschen Cakes bakery in Belgravia.

Here, she’s pictured posing in the sunshine outside florist Bayley & Sage while wearing a £575 two-piece from Annie’s Ibiza, in Soho.

Phoebe’s sister, Jennifer, 26, married equestrian star Nayel Nassar last October in a wedding said to have cost £1.6million.