Meghan Markle is being promoted as a new face for Dior by The Crown’s Kate Middleton, Meg Bellamy, who attended the private school in Berkshire and loves hockey and tennis – just like the princess

She has enviable dark brown hair, was born and raised in Berkshire, and has a serious passion for team sports lacrosse, hockey, tennis and netball.

These facts alone make actress Meg Bellamy a very fitting choice to play Kate Middleton in the upcoming series The Crown.

The highly anticipated final season of the Netflix drama premiered Tuesday night and all eyes were on Meg and her co-stars as they made their red carpet debut in Los Angeles.

Stunning Meg arrived in a black silk bejeweled Stella McCartney dress, while Ed McVey, who plays Prince William, opted for Valentino. Luther Ford – the young actor who plays Prince Harry – went for a more edgy look in a ruffled cardigan, wide-leg trousers and an earring.

The trio, who posed with Elizabeth Debicki, the actress who plays Princess Diana, at the Westwood Regency Village Theater, are now on the brink of superstardom – and all that comes with it.

Co-stars: Dazzling Meg arrived in a black silk bejeweled Stella McCartney dress, while Ed McVey (right), who plays Prince William, opted for Valentino

But we can reveal that, in a case of life truly imitating art, Meg has something else in common with the Princess of Wales. Before she was even on screen, 21-year-old Meg has become a huge favorite of the fashion world. She has already made a deal that Kate’s nemesis Meghan Markle would envy: becoming a face of the French fashion house Dior, with all the benefits that entails.

That’s not all: Cartier, Valentino and Jaguar are all deeply in love with Meg Bellamy. In further signs that her lifestyle has become fit for a princess, she has been a guest at some of society’s most glittering events. A Netflix insider tells me, “They’re lining up for Meg, she’s playing the most famous woman in the world in a globally famous television drama, so many labels and brands want some of that.” She’s a total unknown, but she’s treated like Kate, an A-list princess.”

And it’s not just privately educated Meg who has been catapulted to stardom before she even appeared on our screens. The actors who will play William and Harry alongside her – McVey, 22, and Ford, 21 – will be similarly decked out with front rows, red carpets and freebies galore. Indeed, the trio have attended high-profile parties together in what appears to be an attempt to visually recreate the once strong bond between their royal characters.

This is no coincidence, I can tell you. Sources tell me Netflix bosses have devised a carefully orchestrated glitzy campaign for their new series – an attempt to package series six as the Kate, Wills and Harry years, and move away from Diana’s controversial recreation dead.

They were so keen to shift the focus of the sixth and final series of the royal drama – which shows the death of Princess Diana in Paris in 1997 and ends in the early 2000s with Kate and William beginning their romance – that executives at the streaming giant have decided to raise the trio’s profile beyond the screen.

Meg has already made a deal that Kate’s nemesis Meghan Markle would envy: becoming a face of the French fashion house Dior, with all the benefits that entails.

Talent: The actors are now on the brink of superstardom – and all that comes with it

A source close to the show said bosses are only too aware that the days when William, Kate and Harry would regularly boo each other in public are loved by fans of the royal family – and are therefore lucrative catnip could be, not just for viewers of The Crown. , but for major brands.

The source said: ‘It’s a time that the British public loved watching, the three of them seemed so close and so happy. Kate had such a beautiful bond with Harry and they were seen as the future of the royal family.

“And not only Netflix is ​​benefiting from these happy and popular times, but also the fashion world.”

Because if you can’t get the real Kate as your model, her doppelgänger from one of the world’s biggest TV shows is the next best thing.

Enter Meg Bellamy, who in July was given a prestigious spot in the front row of the Dior couture show, where she was treated by Dior executives as if she were truly royalty.

Her work has probably earned her hundreds of thousands of pounds. That the ‘fake Kate’ has developed such close ties with Dior is likely to be hurtful to the real Meghan, who was not signed up as an ambassador for the label at the start of this year despite claims that both parties wanted to work together.

Meg – an unknown who won her role after submitting a video audition tape to Netflix – has also been lured by Cartier and regularly posts about the brand. Valentino also wants to work with her, and she also works with luxury car brand Jaguar. Add to that the fact that she was dressed by Prada for a recent magazine interview, while wearing Gucci for another promotional campaign – all documented on her Instagram account – and you can see how striking her rise to the top is.

Luther Ford (right) – the young actor who plays Prince Harry – went for a more edgy look in a ruffled cardigan, wide-leg trousers and an earring

Quite an achievement for someone who, apart from a few drama productions at her former £10,000-a-year St Crispin’s School in Wokingham, has no acting training or experience.

Royal ties are also evident in her social interactions: Vanity Fair magazine asked her to be their VIP guest at the Chelsea Flower Show in May. And Meg was guest of honor at the BAFTA Awards earlier this year – whose patron is the Prince of Wales.

However, Meg is modest about the benefits she is being showered with, saying: ‘I didn’t even expect the fashion side of it. When I got this role, I thought it meant I would be doing a lot of research and a lot of filming. I definitely didn’t even think I would be working with these amazing brands.”

But those brands certainly planned to work with her — and her male Crown co-stars. Dior, Valentino and Armani eagerly dressed McVey and Ford, and Hermes invited them both to Paris Fashion Week.

Ford has since been lured by Peugeot cars and wore Dior last month when he attended an event for the car brand and GQ magazine.

An insider said: ‘Ed will be a huge star once The Crown starts, although it’s really the first time these types of actors have been given such a profile by labels before they’re even on TV.’

The social media experts at these labels have undoubtedly found a successful strategy.

Meg and Ed each have about 9,000 followers on Instagram and Luther has 1,400. When The Crown airs next Wednesday, that number is expected to increase dramatically, and the interest in the trio will mean these fashion labels will potentially be seen by millions. Meg in particular will undoubtedly become an overnight star.

Last year she filmed scenes with Ed, showing how William and Kate’s relationship blossomed after meeting at St Andrew’s University.

There was plenty of similar youthful excitement when Meg, McVey and Ford promoted luxury jewelry Cartier at the Goodwood Festival for Speed ​​in July. Meg captioned the photo on her Instagram with “Old Chums” and McVey shared the same photo, writing, “More time with these two,” and topped it off with a red heart emoji.

A source tells me: ‘It has not gone unnoticed that the three of them are out and about and sharing their friendship on social media.

“It really does sound like the true story of Harry hanging out with Kate and William in the days before he met Meghan.” It’s certainly smart PR. Now that the once close-knit young Royals have been emulated by their photogenic lookalikes, the Princess’s death won’t be the only thing the show’s viewers will talk about.