Mia McKenna-Bruce to Star in True Crime Royal Drama 'The Lady'

Left Bank Pictures made its name as the studio that pitched and sold The Crown to Netflix in 2014. But the streaming service that once took swings at prestige glory by greenlighting six seasons, sight-unseen, of ripped-from-the-headlines royal drama has changed in the last decade. While an Edward-based Crown spinoff and a film version of Patriots stay stuck in limbo over there, Left Bank has moved ahead to work with ITV and BritBox for its next series based on a royal family scandal from the Second Elizabethan age, The Lady.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, this royally connected crime drills down into the women of the royal family that The Crown mostly glossed over, centering itself in The Duchess of York's household, Sarah Ferguson, and her relationship with her working-class dresser, Jane Andrews. If the name is familiar to you, it's due to Ferguson's royal dresser being the center of a "trial of the century" circa 2001. At age 21, Andrews was hired as the royal dresser to Ferguson in 1988 as the newly married Yorks transitioned to their own staff. She worked for the Duchess for a decade but was let go in 1998, supposedly due to the palace's cost-cutting in the wake of Diana's passing. 

Cut off from the luxurious life she had become accustomed to, Andrews pinned her hopes on the man she was dating, Thomas Cressman, to marry her. Instead, one night, after a massive row, she took a cricket bat and a knife to him and wound up on trial for murder.

The series has cast Mia McKenna-Bruce (The Seven Dials Mystery) as former royal aide Jane Andrews. She will star alongside someone who is no stranger to playing U.K. royalty, Natalie Dormer (The Tudors), who co-stars as the Duchess of York.

Here's the series synopsis:

The Lady charts the rise and fall of former royal dresser Jane Andrews, whose rags-to-riches fairy tale fell apart when she was convicted of murder. Once a young working-class girl, Jane answered an advertisement in a magazine and, to the astonishment of her friends and family, became the Duchess of York’s dresser at Buckingham Palace. 

Moving amongst the highest social circles in Britain, Jane managed to secure a place in the upper classes, only to lose her job with the Duchess after nine years of service. Still reeling from her fall from grace, Jane went on to meet charismatic businessman Thomas Cressman and fell deeply in love. Soon, cracks began to develop in the romance Jane had pinned all her hopes on, with disastrous consequences.

McKenna-Bruce and Dormer join a cast of well-known PBS favorites, including Ed Speleers (Downton Abbey), Claire Skinner (McDonald & Dodds), Philip Glenister (Bergerac), Laura Aikman (This City is Ours), Ophelia Lovibond (This England), Mark Stanley (Trigger Point), Daniel Ryan (Home Fires), and Sean Teale (Mr. Selfridge).

Series creator Debbie O’Malley (Harlots) penned all four episodes with Lee Haven Jones (A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story) helming the series and Florence Haddon Cave producing. Executive producers include Sian McWilliams, Andy Harries & Rebecca Hodgson for Left Bank Pictures, and Jess O'Riordan & Stephen Nye for BritBox.

The Lady is expected to debut on ITV and BritBox in late 2025 or early 2026.