The Best Onscreen Portrayals Of The British Royal Family
From the time of the Tudors and Shakespeare, through the Victorian era to modern times, the British royal family has always been very well represented on the big and small screens. While a few portrayals have missed the mark, the general standard is actually super-high. After all, there are a ton of Oscar and Emmy nominations on this list, and many of the films and shows became genuine cultural touchstones! Here are 40 of the best on-screen royal portrayals.
1. Queen Elizabeth II – Claire Foy (The Crown)
Claire Foy won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series for playing a young Queen Elizabeth II in Netflix hit The Crown. When the Queen sadly passed away in 2022, Foy told the BBC, “I think that she was an incredible monarch. She united people and she was a massive symbol of continuity and dignity and grace.” She added, “I’m very honored to have been a teeny tiny, small part of her story.”
2. Queen Elizabeth II - Olivia Colman (The Crown)
For Seasons Three and Four of The Crown, Olivia Colman took over as Queen Elizabeth. She told Hello! magazine that playing a current monarch was much harder than royal family members she’d previously played from other eras. She said, “Everyone knows what she looks like, everyone knows what she sounds like, everyone has an opinion on whether the casting is right.” The Emmy award she won would certainly indicate opinions were largely positive!
3. Queen Elizabeth II - Imelda Staunton (The Crown)
When she replaced Colman as Queen Elizabeth II in The Crown’s fifth season, Imelda Staunton became the first actress to play the Queen in a show to be released after her death. Speaking to the BBC’s Woman’s Hour, she revealed, “I’m now doing the Queen that we’re all a little more familiar with. With Claire Foy, it was almost history — the ’50s, ’40s. I’m playing one where people can say, ‘Well, she doesn’t do that, she’s not like that.’”
4. Queen Anne - Olivia Colman (The Favourite)
Colman’s performance as the petulant, insecure Queen Anne in The Favorite saw her win the Best Actress Oscar. Yorgos Lanthimos’ black comedy purposely differentiated itself from other stuffy period dramas and was rewarded with huge box-office and critical success. When asked about the differences between playing Anne and Elizabeth I/the Queen Mother, Colman told The Hollywood Reporter, “The other queens didn’t get to fall in love with two hot women!”
