The highly-anticipated new series of Netflix’s hit programme The Crown finally has a release date, with an all-new cast appearing on screens November 17, including Helena Bonham Carter as Princess Margaret. And it turns out, the actress has had an interesting run-in with the princess herself.
In Entertainment Weekly’s new cover story about the show, Bonham Carter shared that the late princess was a family friend, and apparently not a fan of her acting skills.
“My uncle was actually very close to her,” she told the magazine. “She was pretty scary. At one point, she met me at Windsor Castle and she said, ‘You are getting better, aren’t you?’”
Bonham Carter thought the princess was referring to her acting skills, or “I presume that’s what she meant,” she said in the interview.
As a BAFTA winner and multiple Academy Award nominee, it’s safe to say her acting skills are now up to par. These acting chops will be put to the test as one of the major plotlines of series three will examine the breakdown of Princess Margarget’s marriage to her husband, Lord Snowdon, played by Ben Daniels.
“They’re such extraordinary people,” says Daniels in the Entertainment Weekly interview. “Completely addicted to each other. Even right up until the minute they were getting divorced, they still had a really strong physical relationship. People often said that it was like foreplay for them, having a big row. They would have these huge rows and then amazing sex.”
“Try it at home!” Bonham Carter piped in.
Joining Bonham Carter and Daniels in the cast for series 3 are Olivia Colman as Queen Elizabeth II, Tobias Menzies as Prince Philip, Josh O’Connor as Prince Charles, and Erin Doherty as Princess Anne.
When asked what it was like to fill Claire Foy’s shoes in the role, Colman admitted she had some trepidation. “It’s horrendous,” Colman said to Entertainment Weekly. “Everyone loves Claire Foy, so I have got the worst job in the world at the moment. You’re saying all the worst things, thanks!”
