The Crowns Imelda Staunton says people couldnt look at her after Queen died

Actress Imelda Staunton has opened up on the struggles of portraying Queen Elizabeth II following her death.

The star of Netflix's The Crown took over the role of the late monarch in series five and six as she portrayed her life towards her later years. But after getting to know more intimate details about the Queen from filming, it made her death hit even harder.

During an appearance on The Graham Norton Show, Imelda reflected on filming the royal drama when she died in September 2022. She explained that they were warned there could be some sad news coming and asked if they wanted to continue.

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The team carried on filming and finished their work for the day, but Imelda then had 10 days off. The actress admitted she was "inconsolable" the night the monarch died.

She added: "Obviously I would have been sad, but I think it was fuelled by living with her for so long. I think when I went back to work people found it hard looking at me."

Imelda admitted that playing the royal was particularly challenging because it became closer to the present day. "n this final six episodes, there are particular issues that she faced at this point in her reign, which dramatically is interesting to play – Margaret has gone, The Queen Mother, and we have Charles and Camilla."

The final series has now hit Netflix and is available to stream in full. When Imelda first joined The Crown she admitted to feeling nervous about taking on the role for a number of reasons.

Aside from the popularity of the show and the royals, she would be following in the footsteps of Olivia Coleman and Claire Foy, who both played a younger Queen. She added at the time: "That’s the difficult line to tread — the real person and a fictional scene.

"That’s more difficult to write than to play, obviously, but it’s [about] how to retain what you imagine is their inner self with the historical event; with Peter Morgan’s writing, with my interpretation and with the people who’ve played it before. This is really challenging."

Imelda's casting as Queen Elizabeth was welcome to The Crown fans after taking on the role from Coleman. She played alongside her on-screen husband, Prince Philip, played by Jonathan Pryce.

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