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Queen Elizabeth Was Paid Less Than Prince Philip on ‘The Crown’

Show producers said Matt Smith was paid more than Claire Foy because of his ‘Doctor Who’ fame.

During the first two seasons of Netflix’s The Crown, the actress who played Queen Elizabeth was paid less than the actor who took on the role of Prince Philip, the show's executive producers said Tuesday during a panel discussion at the INTV conference in Jerusalem. The producers said that Matt Smith was paid more than Claire Foy due to his fame from Doctor Who, in which he played the 11th iteration of the classic BBC character. They claimed they would “rectify that” in the forthcoming seasons. “Going forward, no one gets paid more than the Queen,” said Suzanne Mackie, creative director of production company Left Bank. Foy was reportedly paid $40,000 per episode out of the show’s $7 million budget for each episode—which the producers said mostly went to production costs. “We put that money on the screen,” said Andy Harries, CEO of Left Bank, adding that the Queen had over 120 different costumes in season two alone. Equal pay will have to come for another actress, given that the show will be recast in upcoming seasons as the storyline moves forward. Olivia Colman will play Queen Elizabeth next, while the actor who will play Prince Philip is still unknown. Equal pay for women in Hollywood has become a major issue as of late, as A-list actresses demand bigger paydays.