Dominic West is ‘set to play Prince Charles in the final two series of The Crown’ after the married actor was pictured embracing actress Lily James during a trip to Rome.
The actor, 50, is understood to be taking on the role of Prince Charles at the time of his affair from Diana, Princess of Wales, with his second wife Camilla Parker Bowles.
It comes after The Affair actor and the single Mamma Mia! star, 31, were seen appearing to passionately kiss while dining al fresco in the Italian city last Sunday.
Role: Dominic West, 50, is ‘set to play Prince Charles in the final two series of The Crown’ after the married actor was pictured embracing actress Lily James during a trip to Rome
A TV insider told The Sun: ‘Show bosses looked at several stars for the sought-after role, but he was by far their preferred actor. Now both parties are hammering out a deal.’
They revealed how the ‘irony’ of the casting will ‘not be lost on anyone’ following the recent scandal.
MailOnline has contacted representatives of Dominic West for comment.
Royal: The actor is understood to be taking on the role of Prince Charles at the time of his affair from Diana, Princess of Wales, (pictured in 1981) with his second wife Camilla Parker Bowles
It comes as Lily recently split from The Crown star Matt Smith, 37, for good after a failed attempt to rekindle their relationship in lockdown following an on-off five year romance.
Matt portrayed the role of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, in the first two series of the royal drama.
A source has claimed that Dominic and Lily wasted no time in kicking off their romantic weekend and were ‘all over each other’ while travelling, reports The Sun.
Claims: A source said Dominic and Lily ‘looked like a couple heading for a dirty weekend and they were all over each other’ during the flight (pictured together in 2018)
They told the publication: ‘At first, I thought she was his daughter, as I knew he was around 50 and you could tell she was a lot younger.
‘Within minutes of the plane leaving, they began kissing and cuddling after both removed their masks.
‘They looked like a couple heading for a dirty weekend and they were all over each other. They were French kissing and there was a lot of necking going on.’
MailOnline has contacted representatives for Lily James and Dominic West for comment.
The pictures come as it was revealed on Sunday that Lily has reportedly ‘cancelled her appearance on the Today show’ following the fateful jaunt to Rome.
Cancelled: Lily James has dramatically pulled put of appearing on The Graham Norton Show this week, amid the scandal from her romantic getaway to Rome with married Dominic West
The Mamma Mia! star was set to appear on the NBC show to promote her new Netflix drama Rebecca alongside her co-star Armie Hammer, 34, on Monday.
However the actress, who stars as the lead in the Daphne Du Maurier adaptation, and Armie are understood to have pulled out of the show, a NBC source told Page Six.
The apparent cancellation also comes as Armie applied for joint custody of the two children he shares with his estranged wife Elizabeth Chambers.
While for Lily, the TV appearance follows her Rome trip with married Dominic. After arriving in the city last week, the pair surprised onlookers when they were pictured appearing to kiss while dining al fresco.
Dominic is best known for playing Noah Solloway in Showtime drama, The Affair, which explores the emotional effects of an extramarital relationship between his character and a younger woman, named Alison Bailey (Ruth Wilson).
A source told MailOnline Dominic and Lily spent two nights in a suite at the top Hotel De La Ville with a panoramic view over the city and just at two minutes walk from the Spanish steps.
Star: Matt Smith, 37, portrayed the role of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, in the first two series of the royal drama
They only left the hotel for a few hours riding an electric scooter around the Spanish Steps and Piazza di Pietra. While for lunch they joined their friend and mutual manager Angharad Wood at a downtown restaurant.
At the end of lunch Lily sat next to Dominic, who wasn’t wearing his wedding ring, and he couldn’t resist nuzzling her neck and stroking her.
Since the pictures of Dominic and Lily in Rome came to light, Dominic has put on a defiant display with his wife Catherine Fitzgerald, 49.
Just hours after she told friends she was ‘heartbroken’ over the images, which went viral, she agreed to take part in a bizarre show of unity with The Affair star, with him telling reporters: ‘Our marriage is strong and we’re very much still together’.
The mother-of-four gingerly stepped out of the marital home in Chippenham, Wiltshire, on Tuesday with her husband, hiding her ring finger in her jeans pocket.
Catherine purposefully raised her head and passionately kissed Dominic for the cameras, as they emerged from their rambling cottage, through a rusty gate.
Dominic appeared to have a rather smug look on his face as he made a point of showing that he was still not wearing his wedding ring. He wore the same outfit he wore on his day out with Lily, adding a brown jacket.
With fixed smiles planted on their faces, he and Catherine handed photographers a piece of paper, which repeated the words in his handwriting: ‘Our marriage is strong and we’re very much still together’, with their signatures placed underneath.
MailOnline understands the actor flew back from Rome on Monday night for crisis talks with his wife of 10 years, just hours after she told a friend she was ‘heartbroken, shocked and devastated’ after the pictures.
Dominic has been married to Irish landscape designer and mother-of-four Catherine since 2010.
They share four children – daughter Dora, 13, son Senan, 12, son Francis, 11, and daughter Christabel, seven. While the actor also has another daughter Martha, 21, with former girlfriend, aristocrat, Polly Astor.
On Monday, Catherine confided in a friend that she and Dominic were still ‘very much together’ at the time of his steamy clinch with Lily, and she had said she considered the marriage to be ‘probably over’.
Working together: Lily and Dominic are set to star in Emily Mortimer’s adaptation of Nancy Mitford’s celebrated novel The Pursuit Of Love for the BBC featuring Emily Beecham & Andrew Scott – filming began in July
A female friend who came to console Catherine told MailOnline that she has was ‘devastated’ over the pictures because she thought she and Dominic had a ‘good marriage’.
The friend told MailOnline on Monday: ‘Catherine has seen the pictures and she’s devastated. I came over to speak with her as soon as I knew about them.
‘Catherine has been trying to speak with Dominic but he’s not answering his phone. She’s totally shocked because she didn’t know anything was going on. They were very much together, so this is completely out of the blue.
‘She thought they had a good marriage and now it’s probably over. That’s how she feels right now but the two of them need to speak but at the moment, she’s lost for words.’
Done and dusted: Last Thursday, it was announced that Lily, 31, had split from Matt Smith, 37, for good after a failed attempt to rekindle their relationship in lockdown (pictured in 2015)