The 'House of the Dragon' star, who played Prince Philip in the first two seasons of the Netflix series, says the late monarch was a fan of his hit show.
- Sep 16, 2022
AceShowbiz - Matt Smith says Queen Elizabeth II watched "The Crown" on a projector. The 39-year-old actor, who played Her Majesty's husband Prince Philip for the show's first two seasons, revealed that the late 96-year-old monarch was a big fan of the fictionalized version of her life and made it a part of her weekend ritual, according to what her grandson Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex told him.
While appearing on the "Today" show on Thursday, September 15, he said, "I met the now-King Charles, I told him that he had fabulous shoes … and then I met Harry once at the Polo. He walked up to me and he went, 'Grand-dad,' because he watched the show. I heard the Queen had watched it, yeah, and she used to watch it on a projector on a Sunday night, apparently."
Matt shared that his character the Duke of Edinburgh, who died aged 99 in April 2021, was not such a fan of the Peter Morgan-created period drama. He said, "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'. 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.' "
The "House of the Dragon" star's anecdotes come after the death of the Queen last Thursday, September 8, which has prompted a period of national mourning in the U.K. and wave of tributes from all corners of the globe. Claire Foy, who snagged both an Emmy and a Golden Globe for playing the monarch who reigned for more than 70 years opposite Matt, was one of them, admitting she was "honored" to play the Queen. She said, "I think that she was an incredible monarch. She united people and she was a massive symbol of continuity and dignity and grace. My main feeling is just thinking about her as a mother and a grandmother and a great-grandmother, really, and I'm very honored to have been a teeny tiny, small part of her story."
