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Matt Smith, who played the Duke of Edinburgh in the first two series of the hit programme from 2016-2017, made the admission in an interview with US entertainment magazine and website Variety.
He said that after speaking to a number of Palace staff in preparation for the role, there is actually some “misconception” about the Queen’s husband.
In fact the actor, who also played Doctor Who between 2009 and 2013, found Prince Philip to be “brilliantly funny, very clever, very popular”.
Matt Smith told Variety: “One of the interesting challenges for me was that I felt there was a sort of a misconception and a preconception about him, which reduced him a bit.
“And actually all the research I did found him to be brilliantly funny, very clever, very popular.
“In the Royal house he’s the most popular of all of them. If you’ve talked to any of the staff, Philip’s the one they all love really.
“I think more than a lot of them, he’s a bit more of a man of the people. The Royal protocol hasn’t dogged him in quite the same way his whole life and there’s a sort of rebellion in him and a naughtiness and a cheekiness.
“I think he’s quite affable and open by all accounts with the staff. They all love him.”
It comes after Prince Philip reportedly snapped at a dinner party when asked if he had watched The Crown.
Matt Smith said the Duke of Edinburgh was quick to dismiss any rumours he is a fan of the hit Netflix series.
He told Variety: apparently there was a dinner party and a friend of mine asked him if he’d watched “The Crown,” and he turned around and said, “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Which I thought was very good. But apparently the Queen has, we are told, but we don’t know.
“We’ll never know. But I think I’m pretty sure some of them have.”
It has previously been reported the Queen is a fan of the online show, with another member of the cast claiming Her Majesty watches the series.
Vanessa Kirby, who has previously played Princess Margaret, said a friend had overheard Princess Eugenie saying her grandmother enjoyed watching the show.
In an interview with the June issue of Harper’s Bazaar magazine, she said: “A friend of mine was at a party and didn’t know anyone, so he sidled up to this group who were talking about The Crown.
One girl said, ‘Well, my granny watches it and really likes it’.
“It slowly dawned on him that the girl was Eugenie and her granny was the Queen.”
A Royal source has previously told Express.co.uk Prince Edward and his wife, the Countess of Wessex, also watch the series.
They said: “Edward and Sophie love The Crown.
“It has been a longstanding arrangement that they drive to Windsor at the weekend to join the Queen for an informal supper while watching TV or a film.
“They have a Netflix account and urged her to watch it with them.
“Happily, she really liked it, although obviously there were some depictions of events that she found too heavily dramatised.”
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