King Charles III drama imagines Queen Elizabeth dead and Duchess Kate plotting to de-throne Charles

Last week, the public were left intrigued when the Palace tweeted that it had an important announcement to make and rumours swirled that the Queen was abdicating or announcing a serious illness.

Thankfully that wasn’t the case, however for those who speculated what could happen after such an event, a controversial new BBC Two drama will air tonight that imagines the fallout within the Royal family immediately after the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

‘King Charles III’ has ruffled feathers because it depicts the Duchess of Cambridge as a chain-smoking Princess who is scheming to become Queen and it raises the question of Prince Harry’s paternity.

The drama has been adapted from the award-winning play of the same name by Mike Bartlett, and concerns over its content were first brought to light in a Daily Mail article over the weekend that featured Diana’s friend Rosa Monckton, who said that the Prince Harry paternity storyline was ‘deliberately causing pain to a real living person in a salacious fashion’.

Teasing the show, the BBC said: ‘Charles has waited a lifetime to ascend to the throne, but when he finally does he finds himself wrestling his conscience over a bill to sign into law. His hesitation detonates a constitutional and political crisis and divides his family, with Prince William and Kate realising his actions may threaten their future.’

Charlotte Riley, who plays Duchess Kate, described her character in the one-off drama as the driving force behind the heir apparent.

She said: ‘She’s almost like the CEO of a business. She is pragmatic and forward with her opinions and wants to move things forward for the Royal Family. She encourages William to become the man she knows he can be, leading from the front.’

Tim Pigott-Smith stars as the future version of Prince Charles and admitted that the drama will be ‘agonising’ for Prince Charles and William to watch.

He told The Times: ‘For Charles or William or Harry it would be agonising to watch. That upsets me.’

While Oliver Chris plays Prince William and told the BBC that the outcry over the show is “really surprising’, adding: ‘I would like to think that certainly if William saw my portrayal he would see that it’s done with an awful lot of respect and admiration.’

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