It's no surprise that The Crown has an on-set etiquette advisor, considering all the special rules, regulations and strict protocols the Royal Family have to follow. Dominic West, who plays Prince Charles in the sixth season of The Crown, has benefited from their expertise after he was corrected on set for the way he ate...asparagus.
The Crown’s head researcher Annie Sulzberger told History Extra that the actor was stopped by the show's etiquette adviser, David Rankin-Hunt, while shooting a dinner scene at Buckingham Palace.
Noticing that Dominic was eating his asparagus with his knife and fork (nothing controversial there, we thought) the etiquette expert explained to the actor: “Posh people don’t eat asparagus with knives and forks—they use their fingers.”
Sulzberger explained to the publication: "We reset and reshot it with Dom picking up the asparagus with his fingers."
Before adding: "It’s important to have so many voices who can chime in with their experience because I don’t think I would have been able to look up the way in which two posh people would have eaten asparagus back in 1992."
It's something that has been previously discussed by former royal butler Grant Harrold, who told The Daily Mail: “You must always use a knife and fork unless you’re eating asparagus.”
Dominic West starred as the then-Prince Charles in the fifth and sixth seasons of The Crown, alongside Elizabeth Debicki as Princess Diana.
The new season centres around the aftermath of the death of Princess Diana, as well as the blossoming relationship between Prince William and Kate Middleton, culminating with the wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles.
Dominic West has previously spoken about his reservations about taking on the role of Prince Charles. Speaking on BBC radio, he revealed: “I suppose having to forgo the British Empire medal that I might have got for services to acting. It was all right for [Prince Philip actor Jonathan Pryce], who had already been knighted.”
