“It was just very easy and fun straightaway,” Bellamy said, “and we got along and clicked instantly, which helps. Then we did have another chemistry read and, with all the rehearsals and then just meeting up and getting to know each other, by the time we started filming we felt very safe with each other.”

The series picks up with William enrolling at University of St. Andrews in Scotland after a year off that included his volunteer trip to Chile—a program Kate also coincidentally participated in during her gap year. (Or that was totally on purpose, depending on whether you’re of the theory The Crown advances that her mum Carole Middleton was steering her daughter into the future king’s path all along.)

Admittedly only “kind of aware of the royals and key events, like the royal wedding,” Bellamy said she enjoyed researching Kate’s early life, her “more normal and natural childhood.”

And school-era Kate, however accomplished and fit, was still technically a regular person.