AceShowbiz - Sir Jonathan Pryce has felt "more sympathetic" towards the royal family since starring in "The Crown". The 76-year-old actor stars as late Prince Philip - who died in April 2021 aged 99 after 73 years of marriage to the late Queen Elizabeth - in the hit Netflix drama series and thinks that the show has "enhanced the image" of the monarchy despite garnering controversy for not always giving a completely accurate depiction of events.

"I learned a lot about Prince Philip but I've always been a fan of Prince Charles, now King Charles, and it's going to be interesting to see how he develops as a king and what he can bring to the country," he said on UK TV show "Good Morning Britain".

"We saw him at COP28 recently doing very important work and I think 'The Crown', if anything, has enhanced the image of the royal family. It has made people more sympathetic and understanding. It has made me more sympathetic and understanding, and entertained people at the same time."

The acclaimed series has followed the life of Queen Elizabeth since just before her reign began in 1952 but the Olivier Award-winning star went on to note that the story becomes a bit more "sensitive" to viewers as it catches up to "living memory" although he felt that the show's depiction of the death of Princess Diana - who was killed in a car crash aged 36 in 1997 - was done in an "extraordinary and sincere" manner.

He said, "When it started, it was the coronation [of Queen Elizabeth] and I was six when the coronation happened. It was history and people were finding out what it was like in the 50s and 60s."

"Now, it's much closer to people's living memories and it becomes a bit more sensitive towards people's sensibilities about what happened at the time. The four episodes that have been on now concerning Princess Diana, I think they have been dealt with in an extraordinary and sincere way. It's been great."