The Crown actress Claire Foy has weighed in on the show’s decision to delve into rumours of the Duke of Edinburgh’s infidelity in a new interview.
The 33-year-old star, who plays the Queen in the Netflix drama, said it would be ‘very weird’ to make a series ‘where we pretended… that Prince Philip was entirely devoted to the Queen, adding, ‘that’s not a true depiction’.
The actress spoke ahead of the release of the second season of the £100million series, which will paint an unflattering portrait of Prince Philip as an adulterer.
Speaking out: Claire Foy, who plays the Queen on The Crown, opened up about the show’s decision to delve into rumours of Prince Philip’s infidelity. Pictured with co-star Matt Smith
Cracks in the marriage: Claire Foy and Matt Smith as the Queen and Prince Philip on The Crown
In an interview with Alexandra Pollard at the Guardian, Foy said: ‘I think ultimately it would be very weird if we made a series where we pretended that Tony Armstrong-Jones was just a photographer, that Edward VIII never had any scandal in his life, and that Prince Philip was entirely devoted to the Queen.
‘That’s not a true depiction of these people, and not a true exploration of their characters. It would be like saying that the Queen was never away from her children.’
Scenes from the new series show the Duke of Edinburgh, played by Matt Smith, being tempted by a flirtatious Jackie Kennedy during her visit to Buckingham Palace in 1961.
Milestone anniversary: The Queen and Prince Philip recently celebrated their 70th anniversary
Meanwhile the Queen’s suspicions of infidelity are aroused after she finds a picture of a dancer in his bag – believed to represent Pat Kirkwood, the real-life dancer he was once linked to.
The Netflix show also suggests he was romantically involved with women on a 1956-7 tour of Commonwealth countries without his wife, aboard the HMY Britannia.
There he meets the women of Papua New Guinea and Tonga, with his private secretary writing: ‘Nowhere on earth have we seen such beautiful women.
‘We tear ourselves away, each of us not a little bit, but very much in love.’
Incriminating: In season two, the Queen finds a photo of a dancer among Philip’s belongings
The second season also portrays just how much time the Queen spent away from her children as they were growing up as she battled with growing discontent in the Commonwealth.
Foy, who gave birth to her child shortly before she started work on The Crown in 2015, said that no one could judge the Queen for what she did.
‘I’ve learned that the last thing you can do is judge another mother,’ she said. ‘She had a job to do, and if she was a man, no one would have questioned it.’
The second series of The Crown will be available to watch from December 8 on Netflix.