William & Kate: The Movie is the first of two unrelated American television films about the relationship between Prince William and Catherine "Kate" Middleton (now the Prince and Princess of Wales), directed by Mark Rosman and written by Nancey Silvers. The film was a ratings success, despite the negative reception from critics. The second film William & Catherine: A Royal Romance was produced by the Hallmark Channel and released in August 2011.
Produced by Lifetime, the filming of William & Kate took place mostly in Los Angeles, with some second unit location filming in the United Kingdom, and the release date was April 18, 2011, eleven days before the wedding of William and Catherine on April 29, 2011.
Kate Middleton is played by Camilla Luddington, an English-born actress, while William is played by Nico Evers-Swindell, a New Zealander.
Contents
Cast
Nico Evers-Swindell – Prince William
Camilla Luddington – Catherine Middleton
Samantha Whittaker – Olivia Martin
Jonathan Patrick Moore – Ian Musgrave
Richard Reid - Derek Rodgers
Ben Cross – The Prince of Wales
Calvin Goldspink – James Middleton
Serena Scott Thomas – Carole Middleton
Christopher Cousins – Michael Middleton
Justin Hanlon – Prince Harry
Trilby Glover – Margaret Hemmings-Wellington
Mary Elise Hayden – Pippa Middleton
Charles Shaughnessy – Flight Instructor
Louise Linton – Vanessa Rose Bellows
Stephen Marsh – Professor Durham
Theo Cross – Trevor
Victoria Tennant – Celia
Reception
The film received negative reviews, with The Guardian calling it "awful, toe-curlingly, teeth-furringly, pillow-bitingly ghastly", the Daily Mirror saying it "contains moments so royally ridiculous they could only have occurred in the mind of a third-rate script writer" and the London Evening Standard saying its only positive was that "it is recognisably a film, in that it takes place on a screen. Events run in a forward direction." The film has also been criticised for its use of American actors, for some of its images, and for first unit filming taking place in the United States.