"The story is about how he deals with life as both a King and a young man, and the conflict between his private life and his public persona. Then there is the question of how he deals with his family now that he is in a place to make decisions about them - and how that affects their lives as well as his own.
“Richard is essentially just a young guy who is trying to do, on many levels, the right thing. At the same time, he questions whether the established traditions of the Monarchy and protocol are actually the right way in a modern age. He has young ideas and he is, in many ways, naïve and idealistic. But he is also very strong willed and wants to change things for the better - to make the institution more accessible to the public, often against the advice of traditionalists, both within the Palace and outside it. But the story is not always about how he sees himself - it is invariably how other people see him which he finds hardest to deal with.
“One thing I have discovered while playing Richard is that, as a character, I’ve felt quite lonely every so often. I think it is because you are in this big house and there are hundreds of people around you, but you are actually very much on your own, mainly because everyone reacts to you oddly and differently. All responsibility is on you to make decisions, and that is quite a lonely place to be. I think Richard is driven, he wears his heart on his sleeve, and he follows his emotions and is very true to them. But he has been brought up in a world where to show one’s emotions is not always the right thing to do. He often fights against how he is not supposed to be normal or human, whereas his perception of himself is that he is exactly that.
“The main thing which attracted me to the script was that I thought it was a very good idea and I couldn’t believe it hadn’t been done before. I thought it had great scope and that the conflict between the public and the private persona was very interesting. And it dealt with issues where the stakes were very high, whether that was politically or as a result of ‘spin’. It seemed very of this time – it deals with media issues, it deals with politics, it deals with institutions and what they mean in a modern age. I think those kinds of really big questions are very rare in any script. Not only that but the characters are very real, layered and human, and sometimes quite contradictory. In fact, the setting of the series doesn’t matter. It’s irrelevant what one’s job happens to be because, ultimately, it is all about human emotions. Whether you are a queen or a dustman, it doesn’t make any difference: you will still feel those things. That is why I think it works so well as a drama.
“The one relationship where that them and us mentality doesn’t happen is in Richard’s relationship with Miranda, and it’s a fascinating relationship for it. Here are two people who have opposing views on life in many ways, and yet there is something which makes them spark off each other. It’s like a fight and it’s great fun, of course, until somebody gets hurt or someone really starts to feel something for the other.
“Abigail is another character who bows in public but, when the doors close, there is a certain amount of irony to the way she acts around the King. She seems to be playing devil’s advocate a lot, and really pushes the boundaries. What Abigail does that nobody else seems to is, when there are moments where Richard has to make a serious decision, she never tells him what to do. She offers up suggestions, while making it clear what he should do. It’s a very female way to do things, but very effective.
“I certainly wouldn’t like to be as famous as a king. I would hate not to be able to walk down the street or go outside without having someone with me. It’s made me more sympathetic to duty and those who put something other than themselves first, whether it’s in the army or police or the Monarchy. I take my hat off to them. I think that the Royal family come in for a lot of flack but they do try to do the right thing and I think they are in a lose-lose situation a lot of the time because it can never be easy. Thank God our Royal Family just go home and have a laugh and a beer and don’t have to do it for real.
“Playing a king is a weird experience, and in many ways one that I found was created more by those around me. I realised early on that you can't 'play' or 'act' being a king, you can only be the real person behind the mask and it is the reactions of others - through their bowing and standing for you - that forge the persona of a Monarch . And of course it became a joke on set - some of the crew would call me Your Majesty. So you do get transported into another world - until a Lithuanian extra comes in and has a line, and you suddenly think "Who the hell are you?" You then realise you are, indeed, in the middle of a factory in Lithuania!”
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