The Queen used to watch The Crown ‘on a projector’ every Sunday
Actor Matt Smith, who portrayed Prince Philip in early seasons of the Netflix series, has revealed how the late Queen responded to the popular show.
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TV show The Crown had a fan in Queen Elizabeth II.
Matt Smith, who portrayed Prince Philip in his younger years in the hit Netflix series, revealed in a new interview that Her Majesty used to watch the royal drama.
“I met the now-King Charles, I told him that he had fabulous shoes … and then I met Harry once at the polo,” the actor, 39, said during an appearance on the Today show this week, New York Post reports.
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“He walked up to me and he went, ‘Grandad,’ because he watched the show,” he added. “I heard the Queen had watched it, yeah, and she used to watch it on a projector on a Sunday night, apparently.”
Although the monarch – who died at the age of 96 last week and is currently lying in state before her funeral on Monday – allegedly tuned into the series, her late husband wasn’t such a fan.
“I know that Philip definitely didn’t [watch],” Smith said of the Duke of Edinburgh, who died in April 2021 just ahead of his 100th birthday.
“A friend of mine sat next to him at [a] dinner once and he asked him. Actually, I think Philip asked my friend if he made The Crown,” he shared.
“My friend couldn’t resist. By the end of the meal he was like, ‘Philip, I have to ask, have you watched The Crown?’ And [Philip] apparently turned around to him [and said], ‘Don’t be ridiculous.’”
Smith previously revealed that he also met Prince William at one point, who offered him a few acting tips.
“I met [William] very briefly in a line-up at the polo,” he said during an appearance on The Graham Norton Show in 2016. “The lady who was doing the line-up said, ‘This is Matt and he’s about to play Prince Philip.’ And then she said, ‘Have you got any advice for him?’”
The House of the Dragon star continued, “And then I thought, ‘God, I’m going to die.’ All [William] said was, ‘Legend. He’s an absolute legend.’”
Meanwhile, Prince Harry has admitted to watching several episodes.
“They don’t pretend to be news. It’s fictional,” the Duke of Sussex, 37, said during his appearance on The Late Late Show With James Corden in February.
“But it’s loosely based on the truth. Of course, it’s not strictly accurate. … It gives you a rough idea of what that lifestyle, what the pressures of putting duty and service above family and everything else, what can come from that.”
Harry continued: “I’m way more comfortable with The Crown than I am seeing the stories written about my family or my wife [Meghan Markle] or myself because it’s the difference between [The Crown] is obviously fiction, take it how you will, but this is being reported on as fact because you’re supposedly news. I have a real issue with that.”
The Crown paused production on the show’s sixth season shortly after the Queen died, out of respect for the longest-reigning monarch in British history.
“The Crown is a love letter to her and I’ve nothing to add for now, just silence and respect,” creator Peter Morgan told Deadline in a statement last week. “I expect we will stop filming out of respect too.”
The upcoming season will feature Harry Potter alum Imelda Staunton as the late Queen, taking over for previous actresses Claire Foy and Olivia Colman, who portrayed her in earlier seasons.
This article originally appeared in the New York Post and has been reproduced here with permission
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Originally published as The Queen used to watch The Crown ‘on a projector’ every Sunday
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