Sir Jonathan Pryce thinks Queen Elizabeth's death will drive more people to watch 'The Crown'.

Sir Jonathan Pryce stars in the new series of The Crown

Sir Jonathan Pryce stars in the new series of The Crown

The 75-year-old actor - who has taken over as Prince Philip in the latest series of Netflix's regal drama - believes the show will provide "comfort" to those left saddened by the monarch's passing in September so they will want to tune in to see her "embodied again" by Imelda Staunton.

He said: “I think it’s bound to affect their perception of what we do. I’m confident that the numbers will grow even bigger. After the Queen died, the viewing figures went up 500 per cent for previous series of 'The Crown'.

“I don’t want to sound too pompous about it, but I think people will gain a bit of comfort from seeing her embodied again.”

The former 'Game of Thrones' star believes the monarchy is currently so popular because UK citizens don't "trust" the government.

Speaking at a press conference for the new series of 'The Crown', he said: “[It is] a reflection of where our society is at the moment with a lack of trust and a lack of believability in our politicians.

“The same happened with Diana’s death for the public, people said, ‘You’re not gonna do it, we’re gonna do it’. And they came out in huge numbers.

“And I think part of for me seeing the crowds queuing for the Queen was saying: ‘This is the kind of person we want to be following and leading our country’.”

Jonathan admitted he has changed his "view" of the late Duke of Edinburgh after portraying him on screen.

He said: "I suppose, looking at Prince Philip it's made me much more aware of the kind of man he was behind the headlines.

"He spent most of his life getting a bad press for saying all the wrong things, usually in the colonies, and finding more about the man who was behind all of that has changed my view of him, essentially."

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