Is The Crown's potential casting of Dominic West as Prince Charles a genius act of stunt casting or divine coincidence?

The Daily Beast

"It’s unclear what forces of nature brought us here, be it a genius act of stunt casting or a supremely funny cosmic joke," says Laura Bradley. "But either way, Dominic West—who recently distributed hand-written notes about the state of his marriage after being photographed seemingly kissing Lily James—is in final talks to join The Crown as the famous royal cheater Prince Charles. Let’s take a moment to appreciate this beautiful moment of art imitating life, shall we?" Bradley adds: "The timing of this news could hardly be more fascinating. Last week West, who is married, was photographed getting cozy in Rome over lunch with Lily James—his co-star on the upcoming BBC One miniseries The Pursuit of Love. Soon after the Affair alum and his wife, landscape designer Catherine FitzGerald, posed for photos outside their home in London and, in a delightfully bizarre move, gave reporters a hand-written statement: 'Our marriage is strong and we’re very much still together. Thank you. Catherine and Dominic.' The display created more questions than it answered—and now, with West set to act out one of the most infamous affairs in history, this is all starting to feel a bit like a cosmic joke. At the very least, this does seem to guarantee that the state of West’s marriage—and his relationship to James—will remain a topic of interest for the foreseeable future." ALSO: If Dominic West does play Prince Charles, it will highlight a male-female double standard where Lily James is more scrutinized for allegedly having an affair.