The Crown’s Camilla Parker Bowles Has A Strong Message For The Royal Family

Viewers became very familiar with Camilla Parker-Bowles’ history with the royals during Season 3 and 4 of The Crown, thanks to Emerald Fennell’s portrayal of the now Queen Consort. But as has become commonplace for the Netflix series, the final two seasons have new actors taking over the coveted roles. Camilla is portrayed by Olivia Williams, with Dominic West portraying the then-Prince of Wales, who is now King Charles III. But who is Williams, and what do we know of her journey leading to The Crown?

Born to barrister parents, Williams was raised in North London. She studied English Literature at Cambridge University and went on to study drama at Bristol Old Vic Theatre. After earning her degrees, Williams worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company for three years before her breakout role in The Postman opposite Kevin Costner in 1997. This was followed in quick succession by apearances in Wes Anderson’s Rushmore and a memorable turn as Bruce Willis’ wife in The Sixth Sense. The actor also starred in two episodes of Friends as Felicity, one of Emily’s bridesmaids, who enjoyed a short-lived fling with Joey.

Williams played Mrs. Darling in 2003’s Peter Pan, Miss Stubbs in An Education, and Countess Vronskaya in Anna Karenina. She recently appeared in The Father with Olivia Colman and Anthony Hopkins, in addition to HBO’s The Nevers.

In 2003, Williams married fellow actor and playwright Rhashan Stone, who you may well recognise from Keeping Faith. They have two daughters, Esmé and Roxana. Away from set, Williams is an ambassador for Pancreatic Cancer UK, having survived the disease herself. The actor underwent a seven-hour operation to have half her pancreas removed, in addition to her spleen, gallbladder, and “a big chunk of my liver.”

Inspired to act after seeing Judi Dench in A Comedy of Errors when she was 10, Williams is embracing the “more interesting roles” she’s landed as she’s grown older. “You don’t have to be a young, alluring teenager to get interesting roles as a woman now — that’s been amazing,” she told Harper’s Bazaar. “Everybody is making extraordinary film and television and theatre, and that is thrilling.”

One such role is playing Camilla on The Crown. She believes that Seasons 5 and 6 of the royal drama will “break the trope of the marriage breaker the press fed at the time,” adding that anyone “who has a perspective on divorce knows that the whole blame game becomes irrelevant.” And as for the headlines speculating what exactly will be covered in The Crown’s final seasons, Williams thinks “it’s something the Palace shouldn’t be frightened of. Peter Morgan is very careful to always turn these events back to how they affect the crown [not the individuals]. The series is called The Crown, not Charles and Diana.”