Young Royals cast ages: Here's how old Simon and Wilhelm are in real life
By Reed Gaudens
Back in 2021, Netflix released the Swedish teen drama series Young Royals, and in an instant, the show became a fan-favorite. The romance, the drama, and the royalty all added up to a lovable series that had young viewers entranced by the central romance between Prince Wilhelm and his classmate Simon. It's the kind of show shipping dreams are made of!
Young Royals begins with Prince Wilhelm arriving at the prestigious boarding school Hillerska and having the opportunity to be a normal teenager. He dreams of being able to live beyond his olbligations and expectations as a royal and experience love and life like everyone else his age. However, he becomes heir to the throne and his dreams become more complicated.
Seeing as the series centers on teenagers and many television teen dramas feature casts who are much older than their characters, does that same principle apply to Young Royals? How old are Edvin Ryding and Omar Rudberg compared to their characters? We're sharing the ages of the leading cast members compared to their characters as the series bids its final farewell.
Edvin Ryding as Prince Wilhelm
Edvin Ryding was born on Feb. 4, 2003, making him 21 years old as of March 2024. When the series premiered on Netflix back in July 2021, Ryding was 18 years old. Even though he's older than his character Wilhelm, it's not by much. In the first season, Wilhelm is 16 years old and by the third season, he's 17 years old. His age gap between himself and his character isn't as large as that between Rudberg and Simon.
Ryding got his start in the acting world at a young age, landing his first television role in 2009 when he was six years old. He's provided the Swedish voiceover dub for many American animated and live-action films, including Mr. Peabody & Sherman, Paddington, Kubo and the Two Strings, Paddington 2, Onward, Dolittle, and Don't Look Up.
Omar Rudberg as Simon Eriksson
Omar Rudberg was born on Nov. 18, 1998, making the Simon Eriksson actor 25 years old as of March 2024. He's a few years older than his onscreen love interest Edvin Ryding, five years to be exact. When the show premiered in July 2021, Rudberg was 22 years old. He's also older than his character Simon, as he's established as 16 years old in the show. Rudberg is six years older than his character.
The Venezuelan and Swedish actor-singer appeared on the Swedish talent show Talang in 2010 at the age of 12 years old but didn't begin his career until 2013 when he joined the Swedish boy band FO&O. Rudberg went solo in 2018 and released his debut album in 2022. Young Royals was his first acting role, and his first movie Carousel was released in 2023.
Watch all three seasons of Young Royals only on Netflix!