The Crown’s Prince Philip, Jonathan Pryce, reveals he is not a monarchist

The Crown star Jonathan Pryce, who portrays the late Prince Philip in the upcoming fifth season of Netflix’s hit royal drama, has revealed that he is not a monarchist.

The 75-year-old Welsh actor recently opened up about playing the late Duke of Edinburgh in the highly-anticipated next season of The Crown, which is set to focus on the breakdown of King Charles’ marriage to the late Princess Diana.

Sharing how he ended up playing the coveted role, Pryce revealed, “I already knew it was a really good series, as I’d watched it from the beginning – though I started off as a reluctant viewer.”

He went on to add, “I’m not a monarchist, and I thought I would have very little interest in the royal family but my wife Kate and I decided to watch it.”

Pryce then recalled how he became a quick fan of the show, saying, “We got to the end of episode one, and we turned to each other and said, ‘Shall we watch another one?’. We just got hooked.”

The actor then went on to reveal his unease at portraying Prince Philip, an important part of Queen Elizabeth’s 70-year-long reign.

“What made me the most nervous is the public’s perception of Philip, and whether I could come anywhere close to it,” Pryce said.

“He was, for a lot of the time, very much the man in the background. And then, when he stepped out of the background and into the limelight, it was usually reported that he’d made some terrible gaffe or he’d said something off-colour. So that was my strongest image of him,” he added.

Pryce continued, “But then, as time moved on, we became more aware of him, and certainly fonder of him, right up until the end. I think the other cast at the beginning had an easier job, because it was not so close to people’s memory and a lot of young people had no idea what The Queen had been like in the fifties and sixties.”

The new season of The Crown is all set to air on Netflix on November 9, 2022, and stars Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth, Elizabeth Debicki as Princess Diana, and Dominic West as then-Prince Charles among others.