The 'Crown' actor weighs in on the 2020 controversy that arose after he was spotted kissing 'Pam and Tommy' actress despite being married to Catherine FitzGerald.
- Dec 25, 2023
AceShowbiz - Dominic West feels like he's able to better understand how the late Princess Diana felt after his "gossip incident" with Lily James. "The Crown" actor sparked a scandal in October 2020 when paparazzi photographs of him kissing the "Pam and Tommy" star while on holiday in Rome were published and he admitted it made him feel sorry for the high-profile women who have their every move scrutinised.
"Obviously, I had a gossip incident, badly timed when there was no news during Covid, so it ran and ran," Dominic - who has been married to Catherine FitzGerald since 2010 - told The Times' Saturday Review magazine.
Asked if the scrutiny had given him an understanding of how Diana felt, he said, "It probably did. But I think everyone understands what she went through. You see a film like Amy about Amy Winehouse - young, beautiful women are who they really go for."
The 54-year-old actor plays Prince Charles in "The Crown" and while none of the now-king's friends would speak to him as part of his research into the role, a number of people who had met the royal over the years were happy to oblige.
Dominic said, "None of [his friends] would talk to me. The reason they're friends is because of their discretion. But I did talk to a lot of people who had met Charles, like farmers, fence layers. I bought a dog off a woman who is on a Duchy of Cornwall farm. The King has met more people than anyone in history except for his mum and dad. None of them had a bad word to say. Well, one did - it was very funny as well."
However, his co-star Olivia Williams - who plays Camilla Parker Bowles, who is now Queen Camilla - thinks the royals approve of the show. Discussing the on-screen wedding between her and Dominic's characters, which was filmed at York Minster in place of Windsor Castle, where the couple actually wed, she said, "I'm going to give you a scoop."
"The orchestra who played Handel's music in York Minster played at Charles and Camilla's wedding. The orchestra's patron is Charles, so if they hated us I don't think they'd have let them play."
