Previously on Netflix’s The Crown, there was a major focus on Queen Elizabeth II (Imelda Staunton) as she was concerned about her role and the influence she’s made on the people of Britain. Now, the story of the Royal family focuses once again on young Prince William (Ed McVey).
The Crown’s “Alma Mater” starts with a young girl looking at dresses in a shop. This scene is a flashback. As she and her mother walk out of the store, they see a crowd of people. The crowd is surrounding Diana (Elizabeth Debicki) and William. As the two of them introduce themselves to Diana and William, the young girl Kate locks eyes with William.
Back in the present, William is seen at a big house party. The music is blasting, people are having fun, drinking, dancing, and playing games. Then it goes to the next day. Harry and William are peeking out a door to see people setting up cameras in a hallway. The two boys are dressed formally. William gets interviewed by the press. It’s his 18th birthday. As he’s getting interviewed, the scene then goes to Kate’s mother, who watches the television screen as he answers questions.
Later on, William announces his decision to take a gap year after graduation. He plans on traveling and doing community service in Belize, Chile, Botswana, and Kenya before going to St. Andrews for college.
He returns to the United Kingdom and starts his studies at St. Andrews. On his first day of classes, he gets bombarded with girls, who want his autograph. He’s overwhelmed. It’s understandable, considering that he wants to live his life as a normal person.
What William doesn’t know yet is that he and Kate are in some classes together. He asks his friends who she is and now he’s got his eye on her. His friends encourage him to speak to her, which he decides to think about. At the end of his day, he talks on the telephone with Harry, who tells him that he needs to open up, be more sociable, and go do things with others. So, William ends up at a party. He meets a girl named Lola (Honor Swinton Byrne), whom he ends up spending a lot of time with.
One day, he goes to the library to check out a book. The book is currently being used by Kate, so he finds her and she lets him copy her notes. As they’re talking, they figure out that they did the same expedition in Chile, just different weeks. Lola overhears and drills Kate during her conversation with William. The conversation ends badly for William as he raises his voice at Lola for interrupting.
As time goes on, it’s clear to see that William’s mood and energy have drained. He’s at parties, but he isn’t enjoying them at all. One night at a party away from his university, Harry checks on him. He pushes his little brother away telling him to leave him alone.
William calls one of his friends and they tell him that Kate has a lot of attention from other boys. When William gets back on campus, he sees her with her boyfriend. William bores himself, doing anything to stay busy and he’s all alone.
One day, William walks past Kate and her boyfriend. He apologizes to Kate for what happened in the library with Lola. When William comes back home for the holidays, he and his grandmother have a conversation. The Queen tells him that he should follow his heart and open up with Kate about his feelings toward her.
After having a heart-to-heart with his younger brother, William goes to bed wondering if he’ll stay in college or drop out. Harry tells him to stay because if anyone were to expect someone to give up, it’d be him, not William. As William lies in bed, he gets a message from Kate, telling him to not leave college.
As the audience gets to finally see how Kate and William meet, it’s intriguing to see how they finally come together as a couple. It was entertaining to see their similarities, but their differences as well. It was also interesting to see that it was Kate’s mother who wanted the two of them to be together, who pushed Kate to communicate more with William. What will happen when they do finally reach the point of dating? When will that officially happen?
Rating: 8/10