Sir Jonathan Pryce apologised to Princess Anne over Crown role

26 December 2023

Sir Jonathan Pryce apologised to Princess Anne for his role in 'The Crown'.

Sir Jonathan Pryce as Prince Philip in The Crown

The 76-year-old actor has portrayed Prince Philip in the final two seasons of Netflix's regal drama, and hearing the real-life royal family had watched the programme led to an awkward encounter when he received his knighthood from the Princess Royal two years ago.

In an interview to be broadcast on Times Radio on Christmas Eve (24.12.23), Jonathan told presenters Kate McCann and Adam Boulton: “One of our cast met one of the royal family who intimated that they watched it.

“When I was made a knight and went to Windsor, and it was Princess Anne who dubbed me, and I was in the middle of playing her father, and there’d been intimations that she’d seen some of it.

"And so she put the sword lightly on the shoulder, and I stood up and I said – thinking she was thinking, you know – I said, ‘Oh, I don’t know what to say to you…um…sorry? And she said, ‘Why? It’s done now’.”

Jonathan was unclear what Anne meant in her response, but he still found the exchange "amusing".

He added: “Now, whether she meant I was saying sorry for being here tonight, or sorry for, y’know, you’ve played my father and it’s done the way you’ve done it, it’s, you know, whatever. It was quite an amusing moment, for me at least.”

The former 'Game of Thrones' actor recently admitted working on 'The Crown' had made him "more sympathetic" towards the royal family.

Speaking on UK TV show 'Good Morning Britain', he said: "I learned a lot about Prince Philip but I've always been a fan of Prince Charles, now King Charles, and it's going to be interesting to see how he develops as a king and what he can bring to the country.

"We saw him at COP28 recently doing very important work and I think 'The Crown', if anything, has enhanced the image of the royal family. It has made people more sympathetic and understanding. It has made me more sympathetic and understanding, and entertained people at the same time."