House of the Dragon Star Matt Smith Reveals if Queen Elizabeth Watched The Crown

The fifth season of The Crown is finally coming to Netflix in November, but the sixth season of the Emmy-winning series just halted production due to the death of Queen Elizabeth II. The series has followed the Queen’s life starting from her wedding in 1946 and the sixth season will reach the modern era, in fact, the show just cast its Prince William and Kate Middleton. Throughout the show’s run, different actors have taken over the roles with Matt Smith being the first to portray Prince Philip. Currently, Smith is starring in House of the Dragon as Daemon Targaryen and revealed in an interview on Today that he believes Queen Elizabeth watched The Crown before her death. 

“I heard the queen had watched it,” Smith revealed. “And she used to watch it on a projector on a Sunday night, apparently.” He added, “I know that Philip definitely didn’t. A friend of mine sat next to him at a dinner once, and he asked him … My friend couldn’t resist. By the end of the meal, he was like, ‘Philip, I have to ask. Have you watched The Crown?’ And [he] apparently turned ’round to him and went, ‘Don’t be ridiculous.’”

Smith also had a fun interaction with Prince Harry when playing Prince Philip. “He walked up to me, and he went, ‘Grandad,’” Smith shared. “He’d watched the show!” Smith said he “can’t claim to know if he watches it currently,” but Prince Harry had “watched a bit of it then.” In 2019, the third season of The Crown jumped ahead in time, and Smith was replaced by Game of Thrones alum Tobias Menzies. 

The Crown‘s fifth season will see Imelda Staunton (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix) as Queen Elizabeth II, Elizabeth Debicki (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2) as Princess Diana, Dominic West (The Wire) as Prince Charles, Jonathan Pryce (Game of Thrones) as Prince Philip, Lesley Manville (Phantom Thread) as Princess Margaret, and Olivia Williams (The Father) as Camilla Parker. 

As for House of the Dragon, you can read HBO’s official synopsis here: “The prequel series finds the Targaryen dynasty at the absolute apex of its power, with more than 15 dragons under their yoke. Most empires-real and imagined-crumble from such heights. In the case of the Targaryens, their slow fall begins almost 193 years before the events of Game of Thrones, when King Viserys Targaryen breaks with a century of tradition by naming his daughter Rhaenyra heir to the Iron Throne. But when Viserys later fathers a son, the court is shocked when Rhaenyra retains her status as his heir, and seeds of division sow friction across the realm.” 

The Crown‘s first four seasons are now streaming on Netflix, and the fifth season will premiere in November. House of the Dragon releases new episodes on HBO on Sundays.