“I can’t claim to know if he watches it currently, but he watched a bit of it then,” said Smith, who played Prince Philip in the first two seasons.
While Matt Smith plays an alluring uncle in “House of the Dragon,” Prince Harry just calls the actor “granddad.” No, but actually.
Smith, who previously starred as Prince Philip in the first two seasons of Netflix’s “The Crown,” revealed that he met Prince Harry once years prior at a polo match. “I met Harry once, at polo, which sounds a bit grand, but it wasn’t that grand,” Smith said during “The Today Show” (via Insider) on September 15. “And he walked up to me and went, ‘Granddad.’”
Smith added that Prince Harry shook his hand.
“He watched the show!” Smith continued. “Well, I can’t claim to know if he watches it currently, but he watched a bit of it then.”
“The Crown,” created by “The Queen” and “Frost/Nixon” Oscar nominee Peter Morgan, charts Queen Elizabeth II’s life and legacy. Claire Foy portrayed the Queen opposite Smith’s Philip; Olivia Colman and Tobias Menzies took over the roles for later seasons. Imelda Staunton and Jonathan Pryce will be the Season 5 royal rulers.
Following Queen Elizabeth II’s death September 8, “The Crown” ceased production “out of respect” for the late monarch and grieving royal family. “‘The Crown’ is a love letter to her and I’ve nothing to add for now, just silence and respect,” Morgan said. The series is expected to premiere in November.
Meanwhile, actor Smith has been leading HBO’s “Game of Thrones” prequel series “House of the Dragon” as Prince Daemon Targaryen. Series co-creator Ryan Condal admitted that it was Smith’s performance in “The Crown” that led to the actor being cast in the fantasy series.
“I was a big fan of ‘The Crown,’ and the performance Matt put on in those two seasons told me everything you needed to know about the actor — he can disappear into those roles,” Condal told The Hollywood Reporter. “Oddly, Prince Philip shares some crossover traits with Daemon.”
Following the Queen’s death, Netflix’s “The Queen” saw a huge spike in viewership on the streaming platform, returning the series to Netflix’s weekly top 10. Season 1 of “The Crown” drew 17.57 million hours viewed for the week of September 5-11, according to Netflix, which was good enough to put it at seventh place.
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