The intimidating quip Princess Anne said to Jonathan Pryce of The Crown about playing her father

Jonathan Pryce, who plays Prince Phillip in 'The Crown,' recently recalled when he and Princess Anne had a tense interaction at Windsor Castle.

As Netflix's critically acclaimed series The Crown finished its final season, fans have been bidding their farewells to all of their favourite characters - with Jonathan Pryce, who plays Prince Phillip throughout its final seasons. In fact, the actor was knighted at Windsor Castle by Princess Anne in 2022 for his portrayal of the late Prince. But, as she knighted him, she said something to him that stuck.

Previously, the actor told Town & Country magazine that he felt "lucky" to be a part of portraying the legacy of the British royal family. 

"We should be so lucky to be considered a piece in their legacy. I think we're a very small part of the greater picture. If I thought we'd done a disservice to either of their memories or their personalities, I'd be very worried. But I know that we haven't because I know there's a truthfulness to what we've done," he said. 

In a recent interview with Times Radio, Jonathan, who is a two-time Tony Awards winner and the recipient of two Laurence Olivier Awards, recalled the exact words that Princess Anne spoke to him as she knighted him. 

"When I was made a knight and went to Windsor, and it was Princess Anne who dubbed me, and I was in the middle of playing her father, there’d been intimations that she’d seen some of it," he started. "And so she put the sword lightly on the shoulder, and I stood up and I said – thinking she was thinking, you know – I said, 'Oh, I don’t know what to say to you… um… sorry?' And she said, 'Why? It's done now.'"

Although there is no proof that any of the royals have watched the entirety of the Netflix series, Princess Anne revealed once that she watched a few episodes, calling ti "quite interesting." Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have also been speculated to have watched some episodes. 

In a moment that Jonathan dubbed as "amusing" to the Times, he also explained that he didn't really know what she meant by her cryptic statement - which is, of course, classic Princess Anne. "Now, whether she meant I was saying sorry for being here tonight, or sorry for, y'know, you’ve played my father and it’s done the way you’ve done it, whatever. It was quite an amusing moment, for me at least," he said.