Actor James Murray is set to play Prince Andrew in Season 5 of The Crown. While much of the controversy ahead of the new season has centred around the dramatised depiction of Charles and Diana, Season 5 will also show the younger prince’s separation from his wife, Sarah Ferguson.
Murray, who makes his debut as Prince Andrew in Season 5, has opened up about the reactions from the public about his casting, saying that recent headlines have turned him into “a pantomime villain”.
“It’s difficult, because a lot of opinions about Andrew in recent years have rightfully been negative, so people will turn any ambiguous story into a negative one if they’ve decided somebody is a wrong ‘un,” the actor said according to Radio Times.
“So many people have come up to me since I got the role and told me stories – either they met him, or someone they know met him, or their parents met him – but while the stories themselves were innocuous there was usually a spin put on them.
“His behaviour, and the choices he made, have made him into almost a pantomime villain.”
While Murray said that he would be interested to meet the disgraced Prince Andrew, he doesn’t think his portrayal of the King’s younger brother would go down well with him.
“I don’t think he comes off the way he wants to come off, put it that way,” said Murray.
The Duke of York was stripped of his military titles and royal patronages in February, 2022, after being accused of sexual assault in a US case. The case was eventually settled in March, with Prince Andrew paying a considerable sum to Virginia Giuffre, who alleged that the prince sexually assaulted her when she was 17 years old.
(featured image: Netflix)
