Matt Smith: Queen watched ‘The Crown,’ Prince Harry called me ‘Grandad’

“The Crown” star Matt Smith revealed that Queen Elizabeth II — who died Sept. 8 at 96 — did, in fact, view Netflix’s royal family drama.

The British actor, who portrayed the monarch’s late husband, Prince Philip, in Seasons 1 and 2, dished how she watched the show.

“I heard the queen had watched it,” the “House of the Dragon” star, 39, said on a Thursday appearance on the “Today” show. “She used to watch it on a projector on a Sunday night, apparently.”

As for the Duke of Edinburgh, who died last April at 99, Smith noted that he didn’t stream the series.

“I know that Philip definitely didn’t,” Smith, who played a young Philip, said. “My friend sat next to him at [a] dinner and asked. I think Philip asked my friend if he made ‘The Crown.’ [My friend said,] ‘I can’t resist. Have you watched “The Crown”?’ [And then Philip] turned around and said, ‘Don’t be ridiculous.’”

Smith also added that there was a moment at an event when he met Prince Harry and the former royal dropped a joke on him.

“[Harry called me] Grandad,” Smith said. “I can’t claim to know if he watches [‘The Crown’] currently, but he watched a bit then.”

THE CROWN, (front, center): Claire Foy (as Queen Elizabeth II), (back, right): Matt Smith, 'Smoke & Mirrors', (Season 1, ep. 105, aired Nov. 4, 2016)
Claire Foy as Queen Elizabeth II and Matt Smith as Prince Philip in Season 1 of “The Crown,” 2016
©Netflix/Courtesy Everett Collection

Harry previously confessed that he watched some of the series with his wife, Meghan Markle. The Duke of Sussex, 38, stopped by “The Late Late Show With James Corden” in February 2021 and noted how the series was a little fictitious.

“It’s loosely based on the truth,” Harry said. “Of course, it’s not strictly accurate … It gives you a rough idea of what that lifestyle, what the pressures of putting duty and service above family and everything else, what can come from that.”

However, Harry preferred the show over news reports.

"The Crown" has a complicated relationship with the royal family as it shows both good and bad sides of the family.
Several members of the Firm have reportedly watched the Netflix royal drama.
Netflix

“I’m way more comfortable with ‘The Crown’ than I am seeing the stories written about my family or my wife or myself, because it’s the difference between [‘The Crown’ being] obviously fiction, take it how you will, but [my life] is being reported on as fact because you’re supposedly news,” he said. “I have a real issue with that.”

In 2016, “Doctor Who” alum Smith opened up about meeting Prince William at a polo tournament during an appearance on “The Graham Norton Show” alongside his “Crown” co-star Claire Foy.

He discussed how he felt mortified to tell the 40-year-old Duke of Cambridge that he would be playing his grandfather on the show.

“The lady who was doing the lineup said, ‘This is Matt and he’s about to play Prince Philip.’ And then she said, ‘Have you got any advice for him?’” Smith said at the time. “And then I thought, ‘God, I’m going to die.’ All [William] said [about Philip was], ‘Legend. He’s an absolute legend.’”

Queen Elizabeth II
Queen Elizabeth II died at age 96 last Thursday.
Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images

As for his love for the royal family, Smith said on “Today” that he wants to watch the sovereign’s funeral on Monday.

“I think it’s a piece of history. I don’t think we will ever have a monarch who serves for 70 years again … I want to be in London. I want to experience it. I think I want to share in the ceremony of it, really,” he said. “[I want to] watch it in my local pub with a group of friends.”

source: nypost.com