Board Thread:Character Discussion/@comment-546146-20131115195023/@comment-1437661-20131222153259

I also think it is only a case of recasting. At the time of the shooting of 1x04, they only made the sisters appear as very minor characters in the background and didn't plan to make Anastasia the Red Queen two years later. Additionaly, they wouldn't try to make correspond one of the main characters of the show to a background  character who only appeared 3 seconds two years earlier. And after all, Tom Ellis and Sean Maguire also have different hairstyle.

I think the most important evidences would be : the fact Anastasia spoke of deception regarding a ball she had attended to in the past, the villainous personnality of her mother, the redeeming side reminding the Disney character, and also Ashley's cameo in the pilot. And I just read Garwin Sanford who played the King acted in a Disney movie : "Another Cinderella Story", which might be a hint or a coincidence.