William & Kate: The Movie

William & Kate: The Movie is the first of two unrelated American television films about the relationship between Prince William and Catherine "Kate" Middleton (now The Prince and Princess of Wales), directed by Mark Rosman and written by Nancey Silvers. The film was a ratings success, despite the negative reception from critics. The second film William & Catherine: A Royal Romance was produced by the Hallmark Channel and released in August 2011.

William & Kate: The Movie
DVD Cover (Region 2)
Written by	Nancey Silvers
Directed by	Mark Rosman
Starring	Nico Evers-Swindell Camilla Luddington
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Producers	Eileen Fields Lina Wong
Cinematography	Anthony B. Richmond
Editor	Charles Bornstein
Running time	87 minutes
Original release
Network	Lifetime
Release	April 18, 2011 (2011-04-18)

Produced by Lifetime, the filming of William & Kate took place mostly in Los Angeles, with some second unit location filming in the United Kingdom, and the release date was April 18, 2011.^[1][2] This came eleven days before the wedding of William and Catherine on April 29, 2011.^[3]

Kate Middleton is played by Camilla Luddington, an English-born actress, while the part of William was taken by Nico Evers-Swindell, a New Zealander.^[4]

Cast

• Nico Evers-Swindell – Prince William
• Camilla Luddington – Catherine Middleton
• Samantha Whittaker – Olivia Martin
• Jonathan Patrick Moore – Ian Musgrave
• Richard Reid - Derek Rodgers
• Ben Cross – The Prince of Wales
• Calvin Goldspink – James Middleton
• Serena Scott Thomas – Carole Middleton
• Christopher Cousins – Michael Middleton
• Justin Hanlon – Prince Harry
• Trilby Glover – Margaret Hemmings-Wellington
• Mary Elise Hayden – Pippa Middleton
• Charles Shaughnessy – Flight Instructor
• Louise Linton – Vanessa Rose Bellows
• Stephen Marsh – Professor Durham
• Theo Cross – Trevor
• Victoria Tennant – Celia

Reception

The film received negative reviews, with The Guardian calling it "awful, toe-curlingly, teeth-furringly, pillow-bitingly ghastly",^[5] the Daily Mirror saying it "contains moments so royally ridiculous they could only have occurred in the mind of a third-rate script writer"^[6] and the London Evening Standard saying its only positive was that "it is recognisably a film, in that it takes place on a screen. Events run in a forward direction."^[7] The film has also been criticised for its use of American actors, for some of its images, and for first unit filming taking place in the United States.^[8][9]