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Queen Elizabeth II was actually a fan of Coronation Street, Princes William and Harry’s former press secretary Ed Perkins revealed on Good Morning Britain today.
The late monarch’s funeral is taking place today after Her Majesty died peacefully on Thursday at the age of 96 at her Scottish home in Balmoral, after an incredible seven decade tenure on the throne.
Remembering the monarch and her reign, Ed chatted to Susanna Reid and Ben Shepherd about her TV habits, admitting that it was actually Corrie that the Queen was a fan of.
‘She watched Coronation Street, she had a lot of boxsets’ he confirmed, when asked if the Queen was a fan of Netflix series The Crown.
The Queen has actually visited the set of Corrie, as well as those of other soap operas during her reign.
Her Majesty’s first trip to the land of all-things serial drama came in 1982, when Coronation Street – which was hugely popular at the time – moved production to a new outdoor set.
The Queen and Prince Phillip arrived on the set on May 5 of the year in question to declare the set officially open.
They subsequently toured the eponymous street, meeting show creator Tony Warren, producer Bill Podmore, writer H.V. Kershaw, as well various cast members of the ITV soap, including Eileen Derbyshire (Emily Bishop), William Roache (Ken Barlow) and Anne Kirkbride (Deirdre Barlow), who all stood outside their characters’ respective houses.
The event was considered so significant at the time that it was broadcast live on ITV in a programme titled The Queen in Coronation Street.
Since the premiere of The Crown in 2016, Netflix subscribers have been enraptured by the dramatised tale following the royal family from the beginning of the Queen’s reign in 1952.
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It was recently shared that the Queen did, in fact, watch The Crown, according to Matt Smith, who played Prince Philip on the drama.
During a recent interview, Matt – who’s currently appearing in Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon as Prince Daemon Targaryen – was asked whether he knew if any members of the royal family watched The Crown.
Revealing that Prince Harry once greeted him by calling him ‘grandad’ – considering he played the Duke of Sussex’s grandfather, Prince Philip, on the show – Matt also shared that the late monarch herself was seemingly also a fan.
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‘I heard the Queen had watched it, and she used to watch it on a projector on a Sunday night apparently,’ he told the Today show in America.
However, he then added: ‘And I know that Philip definitely didn’t.’
When pressed further on how he knew that Prince Philip didn’t tune in to watch the dramatised version of his own life, Matt explained that a friend of his once asked the late royal that very question when sat next to him at a dinner.
The actor outlined how the friend waited until a few courses of the meal had come and gone, before going in for the big question.
‘A few courses into the meal. My friend couldn’t resist, by the end of the meal he was like, “Philip, I have to ask, have you watched The Crown?”’ Matt said.
‘And apparently he turned round to him and went, “Don’t be ridiculous.”’
Today has been declared a national bank holiday in the UK so people can watch the service and pay their respects to Her Majesty, with a two-minute silence to be held at 11.55am.
The funeral is expected to become the most watched global broadcast in history with an approximate 4.1billion people tuning in for the monumental event.
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays from 6am on ITV.
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