David Tennant has revealed that his ‘favourite days on set’ Disney+’s new TV adaptation of Jilly Cooper’s famous 1988 novel involved a familiar face.
David appears alongside Alex Hassell, Aidan Turner, Danny Dyer, Katherine Parkinson and Victoria Smurfit in the ‘raunchy’ new drama, which is set in the English countryside in the mid-1980s.
But the Doctor Who star’s on-screen wife, Lady Monica Baddingham, is played by none other than former co-star Claire Rushbrook, who starred alongside Tennant in season 2 episodes The Impossible Planet and The Satan Pit as Ida Scott.
“And to have that husband and wife relationship. When she embodied Monica, there was no doubt of exactly who that woman was,” he added.
“She’s just glorious, and she’s also one of the loveliest, funniest people with the dirtiest sense of humour. I think possibly my favourite days on set were the Mr and Mrs Baddingham days.”
So far, the show has won unanimous praise from critics, with the Mail pointing out the show stays true to “Jilly’s obsession with bonking, boozing, groping and relentless political incorrectness”, while The Telegraph’s review hailed it as an “un-PC romp” that “stays true to Jilly Cooper’s spirit”.
The BBC has confirmed that Jermaine Jenas has left the broadcaster with immediate effect.
On Thursday afternoon, The Sun was the first to report that the former England midfielder had been dropped from his usual spots on the flagship shows Match Of The Day and The One Show.
The tabloid cited an undisclosed “source” who claimed that the BBC made the decision to fire Jermaine after “complaints were raised” about his behaviour behind the scenes.
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A spokesperson has since confirmed: “We can confirm that he is no longer part of our presenting line-up.”
HuffPost UK has also contacted Jermaine Jenas’ team for comment.
Jermaine retired from the world of professional football in 2016, following a knee injury that affected his inability to play the sport, having previously played for Nottingham Forest, Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspurs and England’s national team.
Following this, he made the move into football punditry, and joined the Match Of The Day team, before becoming a permanent part of the One Show’s rotating group of presenters in 2020.
The Sun’s article pointed out that Jermaine was absent when Match Of The Day returned for a new season over the weekend.
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His other TV credits include the reality show Time Crashers, in which famous faces tried out living in different periods from history, Michael McIntyre’s game show The Wheel and the award-winning Apple TV+ sitcom Ted Lasso, in which he made a cameo appearance as himself.
He also fronted a documentary for BBC Three, Teenage Knife Wars, about the prevalence of knife culture among young people, particularly in his home town of Nottingham.
Piers Morgan casts doubt on Meghan Markle’s claims she experienced suicidal thoughts while still a senior royal
2. Celebrity Big Brother, 2007 – 45,159 complaints
Jade Goody and fellow housemates’ treatment of Shilpa Shetty sparks racism accusations
3. Celebrity Big Brother, 2018 – 25,327 complaints
Roxanne Pallett wrongly accuses Ryan Thomas of deliberately punching her in the ribs
4. Britain’s Got Talent , 2020– 25,017 complaints
Diversity’s guest performance reflecting on the events of 2020 includes references to Black Lives Matter protests
5. Love Island, 2021 – 24,921 complaints
Former Islander Faye Winter shouts at boyfriend Teddy Soares in the villa.
6. Julia Hartley-Brewer (TalkTV), 2024 – 17,351
Julia Hartley-Brewer suggests Mustafa Barghouti, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, is perhaps “not used to women talking”.
7. I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here!, 2020 – 11,516
I’m A Celebrity continues to use live animals in its Bushtucker Trials.
8. Dan Wootton Tonight (GB News), 2023 – 8,867
Guest Laurence Fox launches into a misogynistic tirade about a female journalist live on air.
9. Jerry Springer The Opera, 2005 – 8,860
Viewers take issue with the musical’s use of language and depiction of Christian imagery.
10. King Charles III: The Coronation (ITV), 2023 – 8,421
Bridgerton star Adjoa Andoh remarks on the disparity between what she described as the “rich diversity of the Abbey” the “terribly white” scene after the Royal Family waved to the public from the balcony of Buckingham Palace.
A sentence we didn’t expect to be writing this evening but here we are – part of Kylie Minogue’s performance at The BRIT Awards 2024 has sent social media into a tailspin thanks to a cursed Willy Wonka experience in Glasgow.
Yup, it’s been a helluva week to live online.
If you have been, I don’t know, having a life in the real world these past few days, you perhaps missed out on the Willy’s Chocolate Experience in Glasgow that led to people phoning the police. Yes. Really.
Arguably the best bit of the entire fiasco was The Unknown, right?
Well, you can imagine the internet’s joy at Kylie Minogue unwittingly bringing out a set of dancers during her medley performance at the end of this year’s BRIT Awards who were all dressed… not dissimilarly to The Unknown.
Thank goodness for X (formerly known as Twitter which we DEFINITELY don’t still call it), as as expected, users delivered the goods.
If you were down the pub instead of being at home watching the BRIT Awards on Saturday night, you missed out.
There were plenty of memorable moments as the stars descended on London’s O2 Arena for the biggest night in the British music calendar.
There were incredible performances from the likes of Dua Lipa, Kylie Minogue and Raye as well as some amazing red carpet looks and political statements.
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So if you need bringing up to speed on what went down, we’ve rounded up all the top moments you need to see…
1. We knew Kylie Minogue wouldn’t let us down on the red carpet and duh, obvs not. Instantly iconic.
3. Back to iconic appearances and queen of fizzy rose, The Traitors legend Diane and her son Ross (as Paul could NEVER be her son) took to the red carpet
Dave Benett via Getty Images
4. In red carpet looks that took our breath away – Charli XCX. We’re happy to admit we’re jealous of you Charli.
Jeff Spicer via Getty Images
5. Onto the awards and Dua Lipa kicked things off with a performance of her new single Training Season with an army of acrobatic backing dancers.
6. Roman Kemp referring to Aitch as Aldi Eminem, which of course, Aldi had something to say about.
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8. Also, can we talk about how Kylie had a magnum of her OWN WINE on her table? Iconic.
9. Ellie Goulding brought an entire rave to the BRITs (while Calvin Harris got ribbed for ‘doing his emails’ in the background by Roman)
10. Charli XCX shouting out ‘all the hot girls’ in the crowd – OBSESSED.
11. BRB CRYING AT RAYE’S DREAMS COMING TRUE
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12. Clara Amfo, Roman Kemp and Maya Jama dressed as The Traitors with Diane and Ross
13. Post Office scandal victim Jo Hamilton says that the government still hasn’t paid her
She presented an award with Monica Dolan, who played her in the hit ITV drama ‘Mr Bates vs the Post Office
Presenting the award for Best Song, Jo Hamilton, a former postmistress impacted by the Horizon scandal had her say.
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“I just want to thank everybody in the country literally for the love and support they’ve given the postmasters,” she said.
“Please could you keep on supporting us,” she continued. “Because in spite of what the government says, they are not paying the postmasters. Thank you.”
14. Roman Kemp’s sly dig at F1′s Christian Horner
15. Dua Lipa thanks everyone she’s ever met in her award speech for Best Pop Act
16. QUEENS SUPPORTING QUEENS – Raye and Clara Amfo are our new fave duo.
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16. CMAT’s outfit. A LEGEND.
Jim Dyson via Getty Images
17. Raye’s performance. And The Last Dinner Party summed it up better than anyone else.
18. Sorry but this tweet deserves it’s own spot on this list.
19. Raye’s reaction to her fifth win of the evening
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20. Roman Kemp got Calvin Harris to do a Saltburn-themed shot…
21. Bimini was an icon while presenting the award for International Song Of The Year and shouted out that we all need to support trans rights more than ever
FUCK YEAH BIMINI LETS GOOOO!!!! TRANS RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS!!!
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The band took home the award for Best Alternative/Rock Act beating The Rolling Stones, Blur, Young Fathers and Yussef Dayes to win the prize, which marked their first ever BRIT Award win.
However, when it came to accepting their award, the band must’ve missed the memo for the ‘no swearing’ rule.
As a result, the viewers at home didn’t get to hear a whole lot of the band’s acceptance speech.
The first thing lead singer Oli Syke’s said while picking up the award was ‘Fucking hell’, so unsurprisingly a LOT of the chat that followed was censored.
However, we can now all watch the full uncensored version on The BRIT Awards’ YouTube channel.
Watch it for yourself below – those easily offended need not proceed.
While every year there are moans and groans about the Christmas TV schedules being packed with repeats, there’s one show that we definitely don’t mind watching again and again – the original Gavin & Stacey special.
The BBC sitcom had been running for two seasons by the time we got the first festive episode in 2008, and what a Christmas special it was.
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While we’d seen plenty of interactions between the entire Shipman and West clan in the years previous, there was a real moment of joy seeing them all prepare for their first Christmas together following Gavin and Stacey’s wedding.
Not only did the hour-long episode deliver on comedy and plot, but it also highlighted all those little Christmas foibles that go on in households up and down the country come 25 December.
And while it was a burst of nostalgia having the gang back together in 2019 for the much-anticipated reunion episode, there’s something magical about the original that made it such a festive masterpiece.
Here’s why it’s a show that’s worthy of repeat viewing every December…
1. Pam’s take on Christmas cards
Pam had strong views on when to send Christmas cards
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Before 2008, we were always baffled as to why some people would send their Christmas cards before December had even rolled around, but Pam Shipman imparted some serious wisdom on us that made us completely reverse our stance.
“What is the point of sending cards that arrive on Christmas Eve? They’ll get taken down in a few days. That’s why I send all mine on the first of November. Gives people seven weeks to enjoy them,” she said.
You have to admit, she has a point, right?
2. John who?
Step-brother John!
Speaking of Christmas cards, Pam and Mick also tapped into something we’ve all heard our parents say when they receive a festive greeting from someone they cannot quite place.
“Oh, look at that, ‘From John’… It could be mechanic John… It won’t be John from Ann and John.”
3. Doris being ‘absolutely twatted’ before lunchtime on Christmas Eve
Oh how we miss Doris
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A relatable queen.
4. Nessa in the grotto
“Oh! Oh! Oh! Merry Christmas” was an inspired piece of writing from Ruth Jones and James Corden.
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It’s the scene that inspired James Corden’s Carpool Karaoke, and despite the fact he’s had the likes of Adele, Britney Spears and Lady Gaga join him in his car to sing along to their biggest hits, it’s still Smithy’s duet down the phone on Do They Know It’s Christmas? that remains the original and the best.
We’ve also never been able to say Midge Ure’s name the same way since.
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The scene where Gwen and Bryn share their first ever mint Baileys before boarding the coach to Essex wasn’t big or flashy, but it had a quiet comfort and poignancy about it, which Gavin & Stacey always nails so perfectly.
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7. Mick’s turkey saga
The turkey scene in Gavin and Stacey
Are you basting it? Are you soaking it overnight? Are you doing it the Nigella way? Or are you sticking to Jamie Oliver, because you “know where you are with him”?
Through the characters of Mick and Pete, the Christmas special managed to perfectly encapsulate the bizarre obsession and competitiveness dads have with other men about their turkeys each year.
8. The fight
Pam wasn’t exactly thrilled with Gavin’s news
Pam’s eruption after finding out her “little prince” was planning on relocating to Barry set off a chain of events that made this scene one of the most memorable in Gavin & Stacey history.
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Not only did Alison Steadman absolutely commit to the moment, but we also saw Gwen finally stand up to Pam, Nessa threaten to “see her outside” (and Pam stupidly believe she could take her on), before Pete went toe-to-toe with Dave Coaches to defend Dawn’s honour.
Admittedly, there’s some language that we’d hope wouldn’t make it into the script in 2021, and we were very pleased when they all put the row behind them. But it has to be said, this scene shook up the dynamic between all the characters and also sent up those fights that happen in every family each festive season.
9. Pam and Mick’s royal romp
Mick in his comedy Prince Charles ears
We learned that Pam’s obsession with the Duchess of Cornwall translated into the bedroom as she prepared to be “knighted” with Mick’s “special sword” while he was wearing a comedy pair of Prince Charles ears.
10. Pam’s vegetarianism comes unstuck
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As “Three Steaks Pam” faced the prospect of a turkey-less Christmas after her long-standing lies about being a vegetarian, it transpired she hadn’t fooled anyone with her stance on meat – except for Gwen that is, who had bought her a vegetarian cookbook for Christmas.
11. The opening of the ‘presents’
Nessa and Dave gifted everyone a single chocolate from a box of Celebrations
Never before had we been so eager to see which Celebration someone was eating, and we definitely still relate to Smithy wrapping all his presents in tin foil for ease.
Doris gifting Gwen talcum powder, despite her still having a stack of it unused at home from previous years, was also a foible we’ve seen play out during present openings over the years.
12. The Nessa and Smithy sexual tension
Smithy didn’t want Nessa to marry Dave
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Years before we got the 2019 Christmas proposal, there was a special moment between Nessa and Smithy that gave fans hope that the characters would finally end up together as Smithy urged her not to marry Dave Coaches.
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The sixth season of The Crown upon us, drawing to a close one of the most internationally successful British dramas of all time.
Three casts of actors have played Queen Elizabeth II and her family since the show debuted in 2016, covering some of the most significant moments in recent history through the lens of the British monarchy.
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As the Emmy-winning show returns to screens for the final time, we’ve looked back at The Crown’s seven year legacy to bring you the behind-the-scenes facts you never knew about the show…
1. It costs a lot to make
In January this year, Forbes reported that season five of The Crown became the most expensive instalment in the history of the show, with production costs reaching $143.3 million (£115.7 million) according to financial statements.
That brought Sony’s Left Bank Pictures (LBP) division, which makes The Crown, to a total of $504 million (£407.1 million) spent on royal drama since it premiered in 2016.
2. Olivia Colman really struggled with one detail when it came to playing The Queen
Queen Elizabeth II was famously stoic. Olivia Colman, on the other hand, is not. That meant she struggled to maintain a stiff upper lip in the more emotional scenes.
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“My problem is, I emote,” Olivia told Variety. “The Queen is not meant to do it. She’s got to be a rock for everyone, and [has] been trained not to. We’ve discovered that I can’t do it. But I’ve come up with a little trick. It’s sort of shameful.”
But the team found a way around this so that, whenever Olivia had to react to a sad scene, they would give her an earpiece and play the shipping forecast – a BBC Radio broadcast of the weather and seas around the British Isles.
“I’m sort of not listening to what [the other actors are] saying. I’m trying so hard to tune into the shipping forecast and not cry,” she said.
3. Josh O’Connor and Emma Corrin had very simple tactics to get into character
The two actors portrayed younger versions of Prince Charles and Princess Diana, respectively, in season four of the crown. They revealed some effective strategies to snap into character while on The Graham Norton Show. Josh noted that he would replicate a body language sequence that he claimed the now King still did as of three years ago. He noticed when emerging from a car, Charles would touch both cufflinks of his sleeves, check his pocket square, then wave.
Emma’s trick to get into Diana’s voice was to speak with a certain rhythm where the tone always went down at the end. The specific word to help them get into the character was “alright”.
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4. Claire Foy, Matt Smith and Vanessa Kirby sometimes stayed in the accents on set
They may all have British accents, but speaking in the Queen’s English was a much more challenging task for Claire Foy, Matt Smith (Prince Philip) and Vanessa Kirby (Princess Margaret). To help ensure their voices remained accurate and convincing, the cast sometimes chose to just speak in the dialect on the set, as revealed by Vanessa in an interview with MTV.
5. Actors would watch silent clips of the royals to capture their mannerisms
As part of their preparations to step into their roles, the cast were instructed by supervising dialect coach William Conacher to watch video clips with no volume, in order to focus on their body language. “First thing I say is nobody needs to do an impression and I don’t believe anybody ever has on this show,” he toldReuters.
“It’s more about analysing what the face does, what the mouth does, what the head does, and then letting your voice come through that shape.”
6. Claire Foy was able to get into character with a single word
Claire Foy getting final touches before the scene
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When Claire Foy needed to nail the cut glass English accent of a young Queen Elizabeth II, she would simply utter “one” with her lips turned down, she shared to MTV. It clearly worked, as the actor went on to win two Emmys and Golden Globe for her performance.
7. But she initially feared she’d made a terrible mistake joining the show
It’s no secret that The Crown features a huge variety of filming locations, including the royals’ Balmoral home in the Scottish highlands. It turns out this was a huge undertaking for new mum Claire Foy, who was still breastfeeding during filming.
“On the first day of filming, I found myself halfway up a Scottish mountain with engorged boobs and no way of getting down to feed my baby,” she told British Vogue. “I had to ring my husband and tell him to give her formula… as I sat in a Land Rover trying to get my broken breast pump to work, I felt I’d made the worst mistake of my life.”
The actor said it felt like someone had “stamped on my heart” when she realised she couldn’t properly feed her child. She also shared on the The Graham Norton Show that she felt she was “such a huge idiot” and a “lunatic” for going back to work four months after giving birth.
8. She was almost overlooked for the role altogether
It’s hard to imagine anyone else playing the first Queen Elizabeth, but Claire Foy apparently didn’t make too much of an impression early on in the cast process.
Writer Peter Morgan told Variety that it was only after four read-throughs – during which he’d only attended to watch “actress A or B” – that he noticed Claire. “This one is sensational, who’s this?” he asked, before being told, “Pete, she’s been in four times. And you’ve gone for a better-known actress.”
9. Felicity Jones reportedly auditioned to play The Queen
Felicity Jones
ANGELA WEISS via Getty Images
Back in 2014 (The Crown came out in 2016), the Mirror reported that Rogue One star Felicity Jones portrayed a young Queen Elizabeth in a special reading of early scripts for the show.
Apparently actors were hand picked to read for executives from Netflix. An executive told The Mirror at the time that they were “just beginning the process”.
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10. Elizabeth Debicki auditioned for much smaller role in season two before landing Princess Diana
Princess Diana, played by Elizabeth Debicki in The Crown
Des Willie/Netflix
While Elizabeth Debicki’s casting as the people’s princess in season five and six of The Crown feels spot on, but Elizabeth Debicki originally had her sights set on a much smaller role.
The actor didn’t reveal what role it was she auditioned for, but told Glamour that “it was not anything you would imagine. When my agent said, “Go and audition for this,” I was like, “Really? Okay.”
She explained: “I auditioned for a small role in season two. I went in for the part, and the people in the room saw something in that audition that was wrong for the role I was auditioning for and right for Diana. So it was very unexpected for me. And then over the few years that followed that, I had hoped that it would come around, but I didn’t know for sure. And then it did.”
11. Some of the cast have already played royals
The royal family are some of the most challenging roles any actor could play. But some in The Crown cast had already played royals. Claire Foy, for example, played Anne Boleyn in Wolf Hall.
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Olivia Colman, who took over as an older Queen Elizabeth in season three, played the 18th century Queen Anne in The Favourite 2018, which won her an Oscar. She also played the Queen Mother in Hyde Park on Hudson.
12. Claire Foy was originally paid less than Matt Smith
Matt Smith and Claire Foy
Axelle/Bauer-Griffin via Getty Images
The gender pay gap was very present in the first season of The Crown. During the INTV Conference in Jerusalem in 2018, producers Suzanne Mackie and Andy Harries were asked if Claire Foy was paid more than Matt Smith. They acknowledged that he did make more due to his Doctor Who fame, according to Variety, but said they would rectify that in the future. “Going forward, no one gets paid more than the Queen,” said Mackie.
It seemed the show did address this in future seasons, with Tobias Menzies telling Harper’s Bazaar in 2019 that “my understanding is, that this time round, I’m paid less than Olivia”.
13. Dominic West almost quit a charity role over his casting as Prince Charles
Dominic West as Prince Charles in The Crown
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It’s no easy feat to portray such an important and recognisable public figure – one who would go on to become the king, no less. In a bid to keep things professional, Dominic West offered to quit his position as an ambassador for The Prince’s Trust in case there was a conflict of interest. But his request was turned down by Charles’ private secretary. The letter essentially said, per Radio Times: “You do what you like, you’re an actor. It’s nothing to do with us.”
West added: “I think that’s probably how [Charles] regards it. I’ve been in a line to shake his hand a few times and it’s fascinating. It’s very useful to meet the character you’re playing, obviously.”
14. Elizabeth Debicki found the fake paparazzi “incredibly invasive”
Princess Diana was infamously hounded by paparazzi after her divorce from Prince Charles, and it turns out even Elizabeth Debicki struggled with reenacting that.
“It was difficult to recreate,” she told Netflix (via Variety). “It was heavy and very manic, and incredibly invasive. And it had a kind of pressure to it,” she added, describing it as a “really unpleasant experience”
15. The portrayal of Diana’s death was approached very carefully
There are many shocking moments throughout The Crown, but Diana’s death was the episode that creators faced the most pressure with when it came to striking the right tone.
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Season six depicts her 1997 trip to Paris with boyfriend Dodi Al Fayed, which ended in tragedy when they were involved in a fatal car crash after being chased by paparazzi.
When Queen Elizabeth II died in September 2022, filming on the show was temporarily paused. “As a mark of respect, filming on The Crown was suspended today. Filming will also be suspended on the day of Her Majesty The Queen’s funeral,” Netflix said in a statement.
17. Imelda Staunton struggled to return to work after the Queen’s death
Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth during the penultimate series of The Crown
“We carried on with as much dignity and grace as they have always had on The Crown, but obviously there was a very different temperature in the world, in England and even more so on set.”
She added: “We couldn’t do anything differently; I had to carry on. But we were all a wee bit sad.”
18. There was one character the show’s costume designer really wanted to get right
The Crown’s fourth season may have got through 400 different costumes, but the one designer that Amy Roberts struggled with most didn’t belong to a royal. Rather, it was palace intruder Michael Fagan, who makes his way into the Queen’s bedroom and laments about his economic and social hopelessness.
“I so wanted to get the character of him right,” Amy told Glamour. “I didn’t want to fail what he was about and what a broken Britain was about.”
19. A heist on the set in 2022 saw over 350 props stolen from the show
It turns out that even the props used on The Crown are worth a lot. Back in February 2022, over $200,000 worth of props from the set were stolen while the production was shooting nearby. Among the 350 items stolen were a replica Fabergé egg, a grandfather clock clockface and crystal glassware. It occurred when three vehicles were broken into in a lorry park in Mexborough in Yorkshire, according to Variety.
20. Prince Harry actually fact checks the show
It’s the question everyone wants to know the answer to. Do the real royal family watch The Crown? It turns out that not only has Prince Harry watched the show, but he even fact checks it. “Yes, I have actually watched The Crown,” he told Stephen Colbert on The Late Show, clarifying, “the older stuff and the more recent stuff.”
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When asked if he does any “fact-checking” while watching the series, he replied, “Yes, I do, actually. Which, by the way, is another reason why it’s so important that history has it right.”
Prince Harry even addressed Matt Smith as “grandad” once, according to the actor, who plays a young Prince Philip. “He’d watched the show,” Matt said on The Today Show.
Harry also admitted to James Corden that he watched the series. “I’m way more comfortable with The Crown than I am seeing the stories written about my family or my wife or myself… They don’t pretend to be news, it’s fictional,” he said.
“But it’s loosely based on the truth. Of course it’s not strictly accurate, but… it gives you a rough idea about what that lifestyle, what the pressures of putting duty and service above family and everything else, what can come from that.”
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21. The Queen watched it too, apparently
While Buckingham Palace has never officially confirmed it, the late Queen Elizabeth II also reportedly enjoyed watching the series. “I heard the Queen had watched it,” Matt Smith told Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb on the Today Show. “And she used to watch it on a projector on Sunday night, apparently.”
However the actor said he knew that “Philip definitely didn’t” after a friend asked the late royal during a dinner party if he had watched the show. “Don’t be ridiculous,” the Duke Of Edinburgh apparently replied.
Royal commentator George Jobson made the same claim during the ABC broadcast of the Queen’s Elizabeth’s funeral coverage.
Actor Matt Smith, who famously played Prince Philip in the Netflix series “The Crown,” talks about his real-life interactions with members of the royal family.
22. Camilla joked about The Crown when she met Dominic West
Prince Harry isn’t the only one to have addressed an actor from the crown with their on screen names. Dominic West told Radio Times that when the now Queen Consort met him at a party in 2021, she jokingly called him “Your Majesty”, seemingly in a nod of approval at the casting.
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23. Paul Bettany was almost cast as Prince Philip for Seasons 3 and 4
Paul Bettany
Dimitrios Kambouris via Getty Images
The Avengers star was reportedly nearing a deal to replace Matt Smith as Prince Philip back in 2018. However, just days after the news emerged, The Hollywood Reporter revealed that sources said the actor had a scheduling conflict and was no longer able to take over the role.
24. The first language of the new Prince Harry actor is Welsh
14-year-old Fflyn Edwards, who plays a young Prince Harry in the final season of The Crown, experienced a bigger learning curve on set than most – having to speak English all day. The young actor is from Carmarthenshire and his first language is Welsh.
“Talking in English for a long time does make me miss the language, and speaking to someone [in Welsh] does feel like home,” he told the BBC.
The Crown season six part one is streaming on Netflix now, with part two dropping on 14 December.
The first half of The Crown’s final series will be arriving on our screens within a matter of days, marking the royal Netflix drama’s penultimate outing.
After seven years, and three casts of actors taking on the monumental roles of Queen Elizabeth II and her family, season six of the Emmy-winning drama is set to include some of the most significant moments in royal history.
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Most notably, it will cover the death of Princess Diana and its aftermath, before Kate Middleton will be introduced to the series for the first time as the show crosses into the 21st century.
Here’s everything we know about the final season of the award-winning show…
What is season six about?
Season six will pick back up with Diana and Prince Charles, after they’ve spent their first summer apart as a divorced couple, showing both parties on their respective holidays with sons Prince William and Prince Harry.
“I don’t really understand how I ended up here. Dashing around, and losing sight of myself in the process,” Diana says in the trailer’s voiceover. “You know I think that’s been the story of my whole life.”
Elizabeth Debicki plays Princess Diana in her final days in the new season of The Crown
Daniel Escale/Netflix
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“We’re very much in the beginning of the Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed story,” said executive producer Suzanne Mackie.
“From the second she steps onto that boat and [you begin to see] some of those iconic images of her on the yacht, it does take you immediately to the whirlwind that was the press speculation around that romance.”
Season six will cover the period leading up to Diana’s death along with the aftermath and long-term impact of her passing.
The trailer includes a clip of the so-called “people’s princess” reassuring her young sons that she is doing well, before receiving an invitation to Paris, the city where she tragically died in a car accident in 1997 after being chased by paparazzi.
Season six will later go on to explore the early years of Prince William and Kate Middleton’s romance – played by newcomers Ed McVey and Meg Bellamy, respectively– after they meet at the University of St Andrews in Scotland.
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Netflix has previously revealed that the 2005 wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles will also be covered in season six. It will not, however, go as far as depicting the weddings of either Prince William and Kate Middleton or Prince Harry and Megan Markle.
Meg Bellamy as Kate Middleton and Ed McVey as Prince William
Justin Downing/Netflix
How does The Crown plan to handle Princess Diana’s death?
There was understandably a lot of press speculation about how exactly Princess Diana’s tragic death would be approached.
The main thing to note is that the car crash that killed Diana alongside her then-boyfriend Dodi Al Fayed and their driver Henri Paul, will not be portrayed on screen.
A source previously told Deadline: “It’s the run-up: the car leaving The Ritz after midnight with paparazzi in pursuit and then the aftermath with the British Ambassador to France swinging into action with the Foreign Office and then the subsequent constitutional aftermath.”
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Elizabeth Debicki as Princess Diana and Salim Daw as Mohamed al-Fayed
The Crown creator Peter Morgan insisted that they would “never” show the crash itself, and recently addressed rumours of Princess Diana appearing as a ghost in the upcoming season. The Daily Mail revealed that a ghost would emerge before a grieving Prince Charles as well as Queen Elizabeth, but Peter has since said that Diana deserved “special treatment” in her depiction. “I never imagined it as Diana’s ‘ghost’ in the traditional sense,” he told Variety .
“It was her continuing to live vividly in the minds of those she has left behind. Diana was unique, and I suppose that’s what inspired me to find a unique way of representing her. She deserved special treatment narratively,” he added.
Producer Suzanne has also previously assured concerned viewers that the handling of Diana’s death will be “sensitive” and “thoughtful”. Elizabeth Debicki, who took over the role of Diana for season five, opened up herself about this aspect of the series, sharing: “For me, one of the things that felt so important – because we know where the story is going – is to make sure that there was real joy and happiness and lightness and genuine fun on the screen.
“That was really the piece I felt that I could control in a way, and that became a real focus.”
New cast members include Rufus Kampa playing Prince William in his early teen years and Fflyn Edwards as a young Prince Harry.
Other returning cast members include Lesley Manville as Princess Margaret, Olivia Williams as Camilla Parker Bowles, Claudia Harrison as Princess Anne, Khalid Abdalla as Dodi Fayed and Salim Daw as Mohamed al-Fayed.
A first look at Prince William (Ed McVey) and Kate Middleton (Meg Bellamy) from the sixth and final season of The Crown, coming 2023. pic.twitter.com/hputORVqGt
There are two parts to season six of The Crown, which consists of 10 episodes total.
Part one is made up of the first four episodes, while the remaining six are included in Part Two. The titles of the first four episodes have already been revealed: Persona Non Grata, Two Photographs, Dis-Moi Oui and Aftermath.
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When is it out?
All four episodes in Part One come out Thursday16 November, before the remaining Part Two episodes drop just shy of a month later, on Thursday 14 December.
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Gregory Porter is a Grammy Award-winning jazz musician and actor, best known for his song Liquid Spirit which was featured on the Avengers: Age Of Ultron soundtrack.
He’s currently promoting his new album Christmas Wish and has recently appeared on This Morning, The One Show, and BBC Breakfast to talk about the album and what it means to him.
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The album is deeply personal to the singer with the title song being a tribute to his mum and her kindness.
The 52-year-old said on X (formerly Twitter): “Christmas Wish is a tribute song to my mother, she would cook the most fabulous dinner for the holidays, we would pray over the food, then she would give it away and we would eat left overs.”
He added: “It was such an honourable thing and a great memory, so I have to put that memory in a song.”
Christmas Wish is a tribute song to my mother, she would cook the most fabulous dinner for the holidays, we would pray over the food, then she would give it away and we would eat left overs. It was such an honorable thing and a great memory, so I have to put that memory in a song pic.twitter.com/RqGj8nWgj4
With early reviews of his album describing it as a “soulful, festive gift”, it seems that Porter is well on his way to a successful Christmas season – but fans can’t stop asking one question as he appears in various interviews: what’s the story behind his flat cap hat?
The flat cap – specifically a Kangol Summer Spitfire – has been present throughout most of his career and has been modified to cover both his head and the sides of his face.
Is there a good reason Gregory Porter is wearing that hat?
As ubiquitous as Porter’s hat is, it initially wasn’t a style choice.
Speaking to Jazz Weekly way back in 2012, the singer admitted that it had a real, practical purpose, saying: “I’ve had some surgery on my skin, so this has been my look for a little while and will continue to be for a while longer. People recognise me by it now. It is what it is.”
He also told The Metro: “It started off covering some scars from surgery but it’s become my style. I was in Denver and it was cold. I was wearing five layers of clothing and I wore a hat.
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“It warmed up and I thought, ‘Actually, this is comfortable, this is a look.’ I started to sing in a jazz club in Denver and people were like, ‘Oh yeah, that’s the guy with the hat.’ So it became a thing.”
