scorecardPrince Harry and other royals have watched episodes of 'The Crown.' Here's everything the royal family has said about the show.
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Prince Harry and other royals have watched episodes of 'The Crown.' Here's everything the royal family has said about the show.

Talia Lakritz   

Prince Harry and other royals have watched episodes of 'The Crown.' Here's everything the royal family has said about the show.
The cast of season five of "The Crown" on Netflix.Keith Bernstein / Netflix
  • Netflix's original series "The Crown" chronicles Queen Elizabeth's reign and royal family scandals.
  • Princess Anne, Princess Eugenie, and Meghan Markle have said they've watched some episodes.

Princess Eugenie told Hello! magazine in 2017 that she watched "a couple of episodes" of "The Crown" and thought it was "filmed beautifully."

Princess Eugenie told Hello! magazine in 2017 that she watched "a couple of episodes" of "The Crown" and thought it was "filmed beautifully."
Princess Eugenie at Westminster Abbey in March 2022.      Kirsty O'Connor/PA Images via Getty Images

"The music is wonderful, the story is beautiful," she said. You feel very proud to watch it. I can't speak for everyone, but that's how I felt when I watched it."

Eugenie also named Kate Beckinsale as the actress she'd like to see portray her on "The Crown."

Eugenie's mother Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York said she enjoyed seeing her wedding featured on the show, and even offered her services as a consultant.

Eugenie
Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York at the Andrew Martin Design Awards in October 2022.      David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images

Ferguson told Town and Country magazine in 2021 that she wrote to Andy Harries, one of the show's executive producers, to ask if she could offer her services as a consultant.

"I said to him, 'Why can't I help my character?'" Ferguson said.

Her offer was declined, but that hasn't stopped her from enjoying "The Crown."

"I thought it was filmed beautifully," she told Us Weekly in 2021. "The cinematography was excellent. I loved the way they put my wedding in as well."

In an ITV documentary, Princess Anne said she watched some earlier episodes, calling them "quite interesting."

In an ITV documentary, Princess Anne said she watched some earlier episodes, calling them "quite interesting."
Princess Anne at the Sovereign's Parade at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in December 2021.      Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images

"The Crown" actress Erin Doherty, who plays Princess Anne in seasons three and four, told Town and Country in 2019 that her character's voluminous hairstyles took two hours to create.

In the 2020 ITV documentary "Anne: The Princess Royal At 70," Anne said that she couldn't believe it took that long.

"Actually I read an article the other day about the — I don't watch Netflix and 'The Crown' — but the actress was talking about how long it took them to do their hair like I did," she said. "And I'm thinking, 'How could you possibly take that long?' I mean, it takes me 10 or 15 minutes."

Princess Diana's brother Charles Spencer said that he refused to let "The Crown" film at his family's Althorp House estate.

Princess Diana
Charles Spencer at Kensington Palace in July 2021.      DANIEL LEAL/AFP via Getty Images

Princess Diana grew up at Althorp House, an estate in Northamptonshire, England. She is also buried there.

"They applied. They wanted to shoot here. But I don't really do that stuff," Spencer said on "BBC Breakfast" in 2021, according to Hello! magazine.

"Actually, to be honest, I don't watch 'The Crown' so I just said: 'Thank you but no thank you,'" he added.

Spencer also expressed concerns about the show in an appearance on the ITV show "Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh."

"The worry for me is that people see a program like that and they forget that it is fiction," Spencer said, per Hello! magazine. "They assume, especially foreigners, I find Americans tell me they have watched 'The Crown' as if they have taken a history lesson. Well, they haven't."

Prince Harry told James Corden that he's "way more comfortable with 'The Crown'" than tabloid stories that "pretend to be news."

Prince Harry told James Corden that he
Prince Harry at Global Citizen Live in September 2021.      John Lamparski/Getty Images

"It's fictional … But it's loosely based on the truth," Harry said in a 2021 appearance on "The Late Late Show With James Corden." "It gives you a rough idea about what that lifestyle, what the pressures of putting duty and service above family and everything else, what can come from that. I'm way more comfortable with 'The Crown' than I am seeing the stories written about my family, or my wife, or myself."

Harry also told Corden that he'd want Damian Lewis to play him on the show.

When asked about "The Crown" in her 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Meghan Markle said she and Harry had seen "some of" the show.

When asked about "The Crown" in her 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Meghan Markle said she and Harry had seen "some of" the show.
Meghan Markle in a CBS interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021.      CBS

"We've watched some of it," Markle said.

Zara Tindall, the Queen's granddaughter, discussed the show's casting on her husband Mike Tindall's podcast, "House of Rugby," in 2019.

Zara Tindall, the Queen
Zara Tindall at the Cheltenham Festival in March 2022.      Joe Giddens/PA Images via Getty Images

While discussing who would play Zara in "The Crown," Mike named Charlize Theron, "House of Rugby" co-host Alex Payne said Margot Robbie, and Zara suggested Jessica Biel.

"Obviously, I look very similar to all of them!" Zara joked.

In 2020, Mike Tindall said he got halfway through season three and needed to catch up.

In 2020, Mike Tindall said he got halfway through season three and needed to catch up.
Mike Tindall and Zara Tindall at the Royal Ascot in June 2022.      Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images

"I actually saw the advert for it and I was like, 'Ooh, I need to catch up,'" Tindall said on a 2020 episode of the podcast "The Good, The Bad, and The Rugby." "Because I only got about halfway through season three, so I started watching season three last night and then I'll catch up."

He continued: "I'm quite intrigued to see where they go with it because obviously, it's an era people are fascinated with. It's getting to more things that people know about, isn't it, and have opinions about — so that's where it gets difficult. But remember everyone, it is a drama, so it's going to be made a bit of a drama."

Camilla, the Queen Consort, has referenced "The Crown" when meeting stars of the show.

Camilla, the Queen Consort, has referenced "The Crown" when meeting stars of the show.
Camilla, the Queen Consort (then Duchess of Cornwall), meets Emerald Fennell, who plays her in "The Crown," in March 2022.      Arthur Edwards-WPA Pool/Getty Images

At a reception for International Women's Day at Clarence House in March, Camilla acknowledged attendee Emerald Fennell, who played her in the show's third and fourth seasons, Insider's Mikhaila Friel reported.

"For me, it's very reassuring to know that if I should fall off my perch at any moment, my fictional alter ego is here to take over," Camilla said in her remarks at the event. "So, Emerald — be prepared!"

In an interview with Radio Times magazine in October, West also said that Camilla jokingly greeted him as "Your Majesty" at an event in 2021 after his casting was announced.

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