The Crown season four filming is well underway, with royals including Princess Diana and a young Prince William among the characters spotted on set – and now it has been reported that the popular Netflix series has also cast relative newcomer Tom Byrne as the Queen's second eldest son, Prince Andrew. Tom, 25, has previously starred in A Discovery of Witches and Black Mirror. HELLO! has reached out to Netflix for comment.
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Of course, the role is a somewhat controversial one following Prince Andrew's decision to step back from royal life due to his links to convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein. The Prince quit royal life back in December after his ill-advised interview with NewsNight was met with widespread criticism.
He released a statement which read: "It has become clear to me over the last few days that the circumstances relating to my former association with Jeffrey Epstein has become a major disruption to my family's work and the valuable work going on in the many organisations and charities that I am proud to support."
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Prince Andrew has been cast for season four
He continued: "Therefore, I have asked Her Majesty if I may step back from public duties for the foreseeable future, and she has given her permission. I continue to unequivocally regret my ill-judged association with Jeffrey Epstein. His suicide has left many unanswered questions, particularly for his victims, and I deeply sympathise with everyone who has been affected and wants some form of closure. I can only hope that, in time, they will be able to rebuild their lives."
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The Crown's creator, Peter Morgan, recently confirmed that the series would conclude with season five, and would star Imelda Staunton as the Queen for the final instalment. Speaking about why he had decided to finish the series ahead of the planned six seasons, he said: "I'm absolutely thrilled to confirm Imelda Staunton as Her Majesty the Queen for the fifth and final season, taking The Crown into the 21st century. Imelda is an astonishing talent and will be a fantastic successor to Claire Foy and Olivia Colman. At the outset I had imagined The Crown running for six seasons but now that we have begun work on the stories for season five it has become clear to me that this is the perfect time and place to stop."