THE actor who plays Prince Philip on Netflix's The Crown thinks the show is good for the Royal Family, despite the backlash.
Tobias Menzies, 46, plays The Queen's wife, Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip in season three and four of the hit drama.
He has responded to negative criticism of the latest series of The Crown which has labelled the show 'anti-royal' and in some cases, 'inaccurate'.
“It is an act of creation,” Menzies told the Evening Standard.
“Actually in many ways it does an amazing PR job for the Crown but that is secondary – this is a show about people.
"It has the caveat that we don’t know what goes on behind closed doors. Peter [Morgan, the writer] is going on what he thinks is interesting, but he does have some pretty good instincts and good connections.”
The actor who is probably best known for playing Frank and Jack Randall in Outlander, thinks a show like The Crown is important in order to challenge the monarchy.
“It allows people of lots of different political stripes to be able to engage in ideas and interrogate what it is like to live inside this arcane institution," Menzies explained.
"I am not a monarchist and I am proud of what the show does. It treads a delicate line, being quite apolitical to investigate relationships inside all the pageantry – although being apolitical is challenging when you get to Thatcher.”
Menzies will hand over the reins to Jonathan Pryce who will portray the Duke Edinburgh in the final two seasons of The Crown.
He has admitted he will "definitely miss the job" and playing the "funny" Prince Philip.
Speaking about his experience of playing the Monarch's husband, now 99, Menzies told Deadline: "He’s enjoyably a debunker. He pokes at unnecessary pomp and circumstance, he’s funny.
"What Olivia [Colman] and I built with the texture and atmosphere of that marriage I also came to really like.”
The Crown seasons 1-4 are available to stream on Netflix with season four expected to premiere in the Autumn.
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