Olivia Colman admits ‘I’m slightly in love with the Queen’

The star of The Crown confesses her affection for the monarch

Olivia Colman at Letters Live
Olivia Colman at Letters Live
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Olivia Colman has revealed her strong feelings towards the Queen, whom she plays on screen. 

As soon as season four of Netflix’s The Crown hits our screens we devoured the new episodes greedily. Viewers can't get enough of the inner workings of the royal family, and in particular learning more about the leading character of the show - Queen Elizabeth II. 

As well as the gazing at all the stunning sets and learning more about Princess Diana's makeup tricks, season four is also the last chance we’ll get to see Olivia Colman’s captivating portrayal of the Queen. Since taking over the role of Queen Elizabeth II from Claire Foy in the previous series, Colman has won a Golden Globe Award for the role and received much acclaim for her impressive performance.

We’re definitely going to miss her mesmerising performance and it looks like we’re not the only ones. Olivia has admitted she has thoroughly enjoyed portraying the monarch and revealed she’s even developed a new found love for the royal. "Having played the Queen, I have become slightly in love with her now," said the actor to the Financial Times.

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"I think as far as royals go, she has such humility and a sort of stoicism that are very impressive."

The period drama has major cast changes every two seasons as we jump through the years of the Queen’s 68-year reign. 

Olivia took over the role of Queen Elizabeth II from Claire Foy in series three, but her time on the throne will finish at the end of series four, with actor Imelda Staunton taking over the role for series five.

You can catch up with series four of The Crown on Netflix now. The latest series also introduces some new characters including Princess Diana, played by Emma Corrin and Margaret Thatcher, played by Gillian Anderson. Gillian recently won a SAG Award for her sterling performance - beating co-star Olivia Colman for the award of outstanding performance by a female actor in a drama series. 

Charlie Bell

Charlie is the Deputy Fashion Editor at Future plc across multiple women’s magazines including Woman & Home, Woman and Woman's Own.


She bagged her first magazine job in 2009 and has previously written for titles including Stylist, Closer and Dare. Over the years Charlie has embraced anything that was thrown at her from styling celebrities to testing out the best jeans on the high street to writing about must-have beauty buys.


With a weakness for a printed midi dress, Charlie is on a mission to shop more sustainably and loves finding new ethical brands and second-hand buys.