‘Quite interesting’: Princess Anne comments on The Crown

We’ve all heard that the royal family don’t exactly gather round to watch The Crown, but one member has shared a few thoughts on the hugely popular Netflix series  

Princess Anne has commented on the award-winning Netflix drama which tells the story of the royal family’s ups and downs during her mother’s reign.

The princess, speaking as part of an ITV documentary which marked her 70th birthday, explained that she has, in fact, seen some earlier episodes, describing them as “quite interesting.” What we wouldn’t give to be a fly on the wall!

However, she laughed at the news that it takes two hours to do the actress’ hair who plays Anne in the show, explaining that her own approach was much simpler.

“Actually I read an article the other day, I don’t [usually] watch Netflix and The Crown, but the actress was talking about how long it took them to do her hair as I did, and I’m thinking, ‘How could it possibly take that long?’ I mean it takes me 10 or 15 minutes.”

The comment made was by Erin Doherty, the actress who plays Princess Anne in the show, who explained that it was quite an experience to get her hair ready for shooting each day.

“Make-up literally took 10 minutes, but hair, sometimes it would take two hours,” she said previously. “It’s its own beast. Literally, I would sit in the chair, people would come in and go and come in and go, and I sat still in the same place. But it was so necessary for her character because it felt like her hair and her fashion were the way that she was able to express herself in the confined, controlled environment that she grew up in.”

Erin Doherty as Princess Anne 

Later in the documentary, Princess Anne also commented on social media, stating that while she took part in several virtual meetings when public outings were banned, she felt it was no substitute for face-to-face meetings.

“With online technology…being in touch is one thing but it’s not quite the same,” she said.

“The ability to meet people, that’s what makes the difference.”

And as for social media?

“I mean, I know what Twitter is but I wouldn’t go anywhere near it if you paid me frankly. There was no social media in my day, so it probably has made it more difficult.”