‘William will make a fabulous king’
Oliver Chris talks to Eleanor Steafel about playing the Prince in a divisive BBC drama imagining the first days of his father’s reign
It is, as one of the play’s stars puts it, a scene that ventures “right near the edge”. In the BBC’S dramatic imagining of the days and weeks following the future death of Queen Elizabeth II, a worried “Prince William” paces the corridors of Kensington Palace after a fraught discussion with his wife. She has implored him to reason with his father, whose first act as King – using his power to refuse to grant assent to a new Act of Parliament – is threatening to send the country into turmoil.
The weight of an angry, divided nation on his shoulders, William is guided by some invisible hand through a gilded door. He falters at the threshold, peering through the gloom to see a ghostly figure. In a crisp white dress, a string of pearls at her neck, blonde hair coiffed in that iconic style and eyes downcast, the ghost of Diana, Princess of Wales says breathlessly: “William, you’re now the man I never lived to see. Such pain, my son, such hurt. But now, be glad. You’ll be the greatest king we ever had.” As she disappears, an eerie scream wails through the palace...
It may sound like high melodrama, but King Charles III has caused no end of controversy. Adapted by the playwright and television screenwriter Mike Bartlett from his Olivier Awardwinning play, the small-screen version will bring the fictional story to a mass audience – territory into which some say it should never have strayed. (The outcry was notably more muted when it played at the Almeida Theatre in 2014, then the West End and eventually Broadway.) Quite apart from the fact that it begins with the Queen’s funeral, there is also a sex scandal (Prince Harry is seduced by a republican student who lives on a council estate), a feud (the Duchess of Cornwall slaps Prince William in the face during a blazing row), and a tortured king (the late Tim Pigottsmith’s Charles is a well-meaning but stubborn man struggling to find his feet after decades in waiting). The Duchess of Cambridge, played by Charlotte Riley, is portrayed as a
scheming Lady Macbeth type with a sly cigarette habit.
Written in blank verse – adding to the Shakespearean feel of the story – it makes full use of poetic licence. But aside from the inclusion of Diana’s ghost, which many have branded a grossly insensitive and crass device, it makes for convincing viewing.
“We used to get the odd gasp in the theatre when Diana appeared on the stage,” says Oliver Chris, who plays William in the film, having also held the role in the play. “It is a matter of taste as to whether you find that to be too much or not. I feel, within the context of the film, that it isn’t. But I appreciate that it’s right near the edge, particularly given people’s fondness for her. I can see why that might make people… tense.”
We meet on a difficult day for the 38-year-old actor, best known for his roles in Green Wing and The Office. He has just spent the morning at Pigott-smith’s funeral, bidding farewell to his beloved friend and mentor, with whom he has worked since the play’s inception and who died suddenly last month, aged 70.
“I still can’t believe he’s no longer with us,” he says, running his hands through his dark blond hair. “It’s easy to eulogise about people in these situations, but Tim was the real deal. He left us in a breath, spreading the same amount of joy and quality and support and kindness.
“His performance [in King Charles III] is incredible. It’s scant compensation for a life cut short. But if you’re going to leave, what a wonderful last hurrah. I’m just so honoured and proud.”
It is, after all, a remarkable journey the pair have been on. From its first night, the play made headlines: critics pronounced it anti-monarchist and distasteful, however brilliant the writing and performances were said to be. And the BBC adaptation has certainly fanned the flames.
Tory MP Andrew Bridgen declaimed it “unfortunate the BBC would seek to promote this flight of fantasy, which many licence feepayers will find distasteful and which I believe denigrates and undermines our Royal Family,” adding: “I hope the BBC will make clear [it] is pure fiction”.
“It was massively brave of the BBC to do this,” says Chris. “They rely on a Royal Charter. But it’s controversial and it doesn’t hide away from close to the bone, raw, emotional and constitutional subjects.”
He does, however, feel someone from the corporation should have defended it a little better in the past week. “Everyone seems to be hiding a bit. I sort of want someone from the BBC to come out and say: ‘Everyone just shut up. You – sit down and shut up’.” (A cynic might say the BBC has everything to gain from the publicity.)
Chris is dismissive of rumours that some actors turned down roles in the film for fear it could affect their prospects for an honour. He rolls his eyes. “Maybe it did make a difference, but in a positive way,” he says. “It’s a testament to the Royal Family that they know this is going on and yet they choose to give Tim his OBE and Rupert [Goold, the director] his CBE.”
The film, he insists, is absolutely not anti-monarchist. “In fact, I think it’s very pro-monarchy,” he says. “[It] really upholds all the institutions that form the pillars of our society. But it stirs the contents. I’m a huge royalist now. I’m extraordinarily pro-william. I think he is an extraordinary example of a potential modern king. I think he’s going to be fabulous.”
If anything, he says, living with William ingrained in his psyche over the past three years has given him a newfound respect. “If my mother had died in those circumstances and I’d had even a millimetre of the acidic glare and investigation that he had, I’d be a wreck,” he says. “I would be sucking peyote out of a tin in a desert, questioning the fundamentals of truth. I would be gibbering in a corner, wondering how unfair the world is. And yet this man has come out of this tragedy with a greater sense of duty, calm, and understanding of his role.
“If we’re going to have a king, then I want it to be that guy. Because I can’t think of anyone better positioned or with a better mentality or sensibility.”
Thanks to unmistakable physical similarities, Chris was constantly asked when he was going to play the Prince before landing the role. “I’ve auditioned to play him about four or five times,” he says.
What would he say to William if they ever were to meet? “I’d gibber. I mean, he won’t have seen [the play]. If he walked past me in the street I don’t think he’s going to go: ‘Ollie, what are you auditioning for this week?’ Or: ‘Saw you in Twelfth Night… meh.’
“I would love to sit down with him over a pizza in some corner office in Highgrove and just have a natter.”
One hopes the Prince would oblige. Then again, if his own recent foray into BBC broadcasting has taught us anything, it is that the second in line to the real life throne is actually more of a curry man.