How “The Crown”'s Young Royals Landed the Roles of William, Kate and Harry — Including One Whose Mom 'Screamed'

Stars Ed McVey, Meg Bellamy and Luther Ford appear as young adult versions of Prince William, Kate Middleton and Prince Harry in the final episodes of 'The Crown,' which drop Thursday on Netflix

As The Crown nears its finale stretch, the stars are reflecting on their path to royalty.

Season 6 stars Ed McVey, Meg Bellamy and Luther Ford — who portray Prince William, Kate Middleton and Prince Harry, respectively — joined Entertainment Weekly General Manager Patrick Gomez on Saturday for a special screening event and a conversation about the Emmy-winning Netflix drama.

Before fans enjoyed the custom charm bar and plush Crown-inspired photo booth at New York City's Whitby Hotel, the actors shared their regal origin stories.

McVey, 24, first heard about the chance to play the Prince of Wales, 41, via an open casting call.

Naturally such a plum role didn't come easy. "It was a very long process. It was about four or five months and it was about six or seven auditions," recalls the actor. "As it carried on the casting team, Robert Stern and Kate Bone, got more and more, I think, excited. And then when that happens is, you get more excited but then, you then get more and more in love with the role."

After taking part in one final chemistry test, McVey had only to wait — and wait... and wait. "I didn't hear anything for three weeks and at that point I'd really pictured my life, pictured all of this, and then didn't hear anything for three weeks and then thought, Oh, I must've ruined it. And then when I did get the call, that was predominantly relief, and I told my mum and she screamed, and that was nice."

Related: The Crown's Kate Middleton and Prince William Feel 'Responsibility' and 'Pressure' of Roles (Exclusive)

Bellamy, 21, was well into the audition process when she met McVey in hopes of becoming the Kate to his William. Unlike her leading man, the actress admits, "I didn't have an agent at the time or anything"

McVey chimes in, "She does now though," with Ford also echoing, "Oh, she does now."

Ford also came upon the opportunity of a lifetime by chance. "I was at university," he recalled. "I hadn't gone to drama school. I had never acted before. I didn't know I was going to be an actor or that wasn't in the plans. And my brother's girlfriend sent it to me and said, you know, 'Why don't you do it? You're a ginger.'" (He qualifies of his resemblance to the Duke of Sussex, 39: "I didn't think I looked like him personally.")

He continues, "I auditioned, I suppose on a whim. And then because it was very late in the process, they'd been looking for quite a long time to find someone, and I got cast in about three weeks. And then we started filming a month later, and it's been a year, so it's definitely changed a lot of things."

Related: Kate Middleton Wears a Tiara While Her Counterpart from The Crown Hits the Red Carpet

Given that Ford is playing Harry during his party-heavy teen and young adult era, it seems rather fitting his entree into the historical drama was a bit of a whirlwind.

On the other hand, Bellamy steeped herself in preparation to play the thoughtful and ever-poised future Princess of Wales.

"I think we all did a lot of research and there's so many different departments to kind of help you with stuff like that. So there's a research team and I remember I had a Zoom with them and they have the scripts of course, and then you kind of collate research that is appropriate to the time. And yeah, I worked with a vocal coach a couple of times, William Conker, and a movement coach Wally Bennett, who's great," she shared.

"And then just watched her all day, all night. I would literally, I mean I'd look slightly crazy. I'd read a book about her out loud in her voice wearing a costume that they had sent to me, moving like her, so I probably look like a psychopath for three months," she quipped, "but it was hopefully [worth it]."

McVey also undertook painstaking preparation to play the future king.

"There is definitely a point and I sort of semi-struggled to find it," he admitted. "Where you have to trust that you've done enough. I went through the first good few weeks on set still trying to prove that I'd sort of done the work or I'd done my research and still trying to audition for the role even though I'd sort of got it, even though [the fact I'd been cast] didn't really make much sense to me."

Eventually, though, he found his groove. "There does become a point, and I think it came with just tiredness ... you stop trying. And I think when I stopped trying to do it and trust the amazing script that we had, it makes it a lot easier because you actually start listening and actually start responding instead of going, 'Oh, this is what that scene's supposed to be like and this is what his voice sounds like' and all of that stuff. 'This is how he moves.' Instead of worrying about all of that stuff, you've done all of that and you can sort of let that go and just say these incredible words that you've been given."

Related: Farewell to The Crown — Get an Inside Look at the Final Season in PEOPLE's New Royal Christmas Issue

Of acting opposite noted actors including Dominic West (portraying King Charles III when he was still the Prince of Wales), Imelda Staunton (Queen Elizabeth II), Jonathan Pryce (Prince Philip) and Leslie Manville (Princess Margaret), Ford can't lie that he came into his first gig with some trepidation.

"I think I had this preconception that the atmosphere on set was going to be kind of really tense and stressful," he admitted, before quickly noting, "and it really isn't. I think because the show is in its final and sixth season, it's such a close team in terms of the crew and the cast having worked together. So it definitely felt like you were coming into something that is very established and it did feel like a family. ... It was a really nice dynamic between us. It was intimidating and it was definitely scary [to work with these legends]. But they were nice. It was good, it was good."

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Part 1 of The Crown's sixth and final season is now streaming on Netflix, with the series' last four episodes dropping on Thursday.

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