If there is a lesson in the first two seasons of The Crown, it is that no sane person would dare cross Queen Elizabeth II. Netflix seems to have learned this too late, however, as it was revealed on Tuesday that lead actress Claire Foy made less than co-star Matt Smith for her work on the show.
Variety reported that producers Suzanne Mackie and Andy Harries were asked during a discussion at the INTV Conference in Jerusalem whether the actors playing Queen Elizabeth and her husband, Prince Philip, were paid the same amount. The pair admitted that Smith made more due to his Doctor Who fame, insisting that the inequity would be amended in the future.
“Going forward, no one gets paid more than the queen,” Mackie said.
Unfortunately for Foy, she won’t be the one paid more. The period drama’s unusual structure calls for an entirely different set of actors every two seasons. While Foy and Smith depicted the royal couple from the beginning of Queen Elizabeth’s reign until the mid-1960s, their characters have been recast for the third and fourth seasons. Olivia Colman will play the queen when the series resumes filming in July, while the new Philip has yet to be announced. Helena Bonham Carter will replace Vanessa Kirby as Princess Margaret, the queen’s rebellious younger sister.
“Seasons 3 and 4 will be the test of whether the show really has the legs to survive,” Harries said, per Variety.