The Crown's Claire Foy Shares Thoughts on Queen's Marriage

Claire Foy plays the role of Queen Elizabeth II in the new Netflix series The Crown and she’s opening up to Marie Claire UK with her thoughts on the Queen’s marriage.

“[Prince Philip is] a strong man, and [when they married] they set their life up in a very conventional 50s way,” she said in the interview. “She wanted to be his wife, to follow him around and support him in his career and that’s what they thought they were going to do for 20, 30 years. But a few years later [when King George VI died] finding out that’s not what’s happening, to be told, ‘You can’t live where you want to live, you can’t have your own name, you can’t do what you want to do any more, you have to do this.’ It’s completely suffocating.”

Claire also opened up about what it’s like to be a member of the royal family today.

“It [used to be] easier in a sense that the rules were clearly defined. You knew where you stood. The press was respectful and likewise you gave them a certain amount of room. But the lines are so blurred now that you don’t know when you’re on and when you’re off,” Claire said. “I also think it must be tricky to be a celebrity… I mean, when Elizabeth was a princess she was a celebrity – what she was wearing and whether or not she would marry Philip were all over the newspapers – but it wasn’t exactly her day-to-day life being splashed everywhere.”

For more from Claire, visit MarieClaire.co.uk. The issue is also available as a digital edition through Apple Newsstand.