The Crown's Welsh star Jonathan Pryce says the show…

The Crown's Welsh star Jonathan Pryce says the show isn't disrespectful to the royals

Jonathan Pryce, one of the new stars of season five of The Crown, has said the show isn't disrespectful to the Royal Family - and said it was "disappointing" to hear people thought it was. The actor, who is set to play Prince Philip in the new series, out on November 9, said he didn't agree with claims that the show was "hurtful," "unjust," or "dangerous.

Pryce is set to pick up the reins from Tobias Menzies and play the late royal opposite Imelda Staunton's Queen Elizabeth. He told Entertainment Weekly that he wouldn't have agreed to appear in the show if he thought it was disrespectful. The show has recently been slammed by the likes of Dame Judi Dench in The Times.

He added and that he was "delighted" to be cast in the role. The actor also defended Prince Philip, saying what the newspapers wrote about him was "never very flattering," but that actually he was "nothing like the man you thought he was."

He said: "I just find it very disappointing that a handful of people, and it is a handful of people, are being critical of this in any way without having seen it. I mean, they say it's hurtful, unjust, dangerous — none of those things I see in this production. I don't think any of us do.

"And as Lesley [Manville] has said in the recent past, she wouldn't and I wouldn't be involved in it if we thought there was any hint of disrespect or anything unjust towards the royal family. It's a thing that's being stirred up by the press."

Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth II and Jonathan Pryce and Prince Philip (Netflix)

Pryce, 75, was born in Flintshire and is best known for his roles in The Two Popes, Tomorrow Never Dies, and the Pirates of the Caribbean series. His shift as the Duke of Edinburgh will cover events in the 1990s as he deals with the fallout between the palace and Princess Diana.

The show has always been controversial - although supposedly the Queen liked to watch it when it first aired - and a recent Telegraph article quoted a source close to King Charles who called it "exploitative." Dame Judi Dench joined in the criticism in a letter to the Times, slamming the show's "crude sensationalism" and "inaccurate and harmful account of history."

But Pryce said that, as well as the show being respectful, Philip himself was "an intellectual, highly intelligent, [he had a] great interest in everything, scientific or things to do with the natural world, and a man with a great sense of humor, and a great deal of compassion, and a wonderful loving relationship with his wife."

The new series of The Crown airs on Netflix on November 9. It will be the first series to be released after the deaths of Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth II and sees Imelda Staunton replace Olivia Colman as Queen Elizabeth, Dominic Wise as Prince Charles and Elizabeth Debicki as Diana, Princess of Wales.

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