The Crown Star Reveals He Apologized to Member of the Royal Family For His Portrayal

Jonathan Pryce said he apologized to Princess Anne for playing her father.

By Nicole Drum

For six seasons, The Crown portrayed the British Royal family and while the series was popular, it wasn't always the most flattering. It also turns out that it wasn't just commoners who watched the Netflix series, but some of the Royal family itself — and it led to star Jonathan Pryce actually apologizing to one Royal for his portrayal. Speaking with Times Radio (via Deadline), Pryce revealed that he actually apologized to Princess Anne for his portrayal of her father in the series.

"When I was made a knight and went to Windsor, and it was Princess Anne who dubbed me, and I was in the middle of playing her father, and there'd been intimations that she'd seen some of it," he said. "And so she put the sword lightly on the shoulder, and I stood up and I said — thinking she was thinking, you know — I said, 'Oh, I don't know what to say to you… um… sorry?' And she said, 'Why?' It's done now.'"

He added, "Now, whether she meant I was saying sorry for being here tonight, or sorry for, you you know, you've played my father ad t's done the way you've done it, its you know, whatever. It was quite an amusing moment, for me at least."

What Is The Crown Season 6 About?

The final season of The Crown, which will be divided into two parts, is set to cover the time period between 1997 and some major events, including the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, the premiership of Tony Blaire, and the early relationship of Prince William and Kate Middleton. "The final chapter began November 16th. Inspired by real events, this fictional dramatisation tells the story of Queen Elizabeth II and the political and personal events that shaped her reign. All episodes are now streaming on Netflix.

The Crown Has Faced Criticism Over Its Depiction of Princess Diana's Death

The first half of Season 6 of The Crown dealt with the death of Princess Diana and how the series handled the event is something that has drawn some criticism. Dickie Arbiter, who worked for Queen Elizabeth II during the time period portrayed in Season 6 of The Crown, is accusing series creator Peter Morgan of "dramatic license gone bonkers" with Arbiter in particular being critical of scenes in which Diana's death is broken to her sons.

"The sequence of Charles telling his sons of their mother's death was so insensitive, it was so unnecessary," Arbiter said. "The death of their mother is still raw with both of them. The scenes between Charles and his mother, in which he blurted out that she wanted Diana to come back in a Harrods van were absolute nonsense. It just didn't happen like that. Of course, an aircraft was going to be made available [to bring her body home from France]. The Queen was the first one to agree to that."

Arbiter also had comments about other scenes, particularly those regarding preparations for Diana's funeral. The series portrays it as the Queen deciding that Diana's funeral should be public when Arbiter says it was in fact Diana's brother.

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"I was in charge and media arrangements for that week," Arbiter said "[Charles] Spencer thought that because Diana was a public figure, because she was very popular and people adored her, that it should be something handled by the royal family to make it a public event rather than a private family event."

The final season of The Crown is now streaming on Netflix.

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