Prince Philip could ‘stay’ at Sandringham says royal expert

Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine and author of 2020 book ‘Prince Philip revealed: A Man of his Century’, said she felt Matt Smith did not capture Philip’s manner correctly. Matt Smith played the Duke of Edinburgh in the first two seasons of The Crown, before being succeeded by Tobias Menzies for the third and fourth seasons. Tobias Menzies is due to be replayed by Jonathan Pryce for the fifth and sixth seasons.

Ms Seward said she thought Matt Smith’s portrayal was “too distant” from the Queen, because in private he is a very tactile person.

She added that, while the real Philip strands very straight as the military man he is, Matt Smith always looked as though “he had just escaped from a kennel”.

Pod Save the Queen is hosted by Ann Gripper and features Daily Mirror royal editor Russell Myers.

Mirror Online lifestyle editor Zoe Forsey interviewed Ms Seward for the podcast’s The Crown special last week.

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When asked about Philip’s portrayal, Ms Seward said: “I don’t want to knock The Crown too much, having said how much I enjoyed it, but I did not like the portrayal of Prince Philip at all.

“I thought Matt Smith the actor got it wrong. I think it was partly the way he stood.

“I think one of the reasons we loved the film The Queen so much was because Helen Mirren got her movements absolutely right.

“Obviously, facially, you’re never going to reproduce the person, so it’s the way they do things, the way they talk, the way they move.

“And one thing about Prince Philip you really notice is he’s actually quite small ‒ he’s not as tall as he looks ‒ but he is so ramrod straight and his head is held so high, and Matt Smith always looked a bit as though he had just escaped from a kennel ‒ his head was wrong.

“And I thought he was too distant with the Queen; Prince Philip is, of course, not ever tactile in public but is a tactile person in private and we were meant to be seeing it in private.

“And I just feel like he got it quite wrong…Poor Matt Smith, I mean he obviously acted to the script, but I just thought it was completely wrong.”

The royal expert added that she did not think the depiction of the Queen’s relationship with her sister Princess Margaret was particularly accurate either.

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She argued that, while The Crown portrays the pair as being continuously at loggerheads with each other, in reality they were very close and supportive of each other.

Indeed, the Netflix drama shows the two sisters in seemingly constant conflict, whether it be about the men in Margaret’s life or her role within the Royal Family.

This is a theme that runs through all four seasons of the show.

Ms Seward told Ms Forsey: “The character of Princess Margaret is absolutely not what I saw of Princess Margaret.

“I didn’t like the way they seemed to have her and the Queen at loggerheads.

“They were always so close and really supportive of each other.

“But, of course, it makes a better story to have them at loggerheads.

“I mean, I’m not criticising the writer, I’m just saying you have to watch it, but not believe it.”

She added that The Crown should be seen as a work of fiction, not as a historically accurate depiction of events.

The Crown has sparked much debate recently about whether it should be more explicit in telling its audience that, while plotlines are based on real events and characters based on real people, the writers took considerable artistic license when portraying events that happened behind closed doors.

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden told the Daily Mail that Netflix “should be very clear” the show is made up.

He argued: “Without this, I fear a generation of viewers who did not live through these events may mistake fiction for fact.”

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