Following in the footsteps of fellow fictional Prince Philip Tobias Menzies, The Crown star Matt Smith remembered the Duke of Edinburgh after the late royal’s passing at the age of 99 on Friday. “I’d like to offer my condolences to Her Majesty the Queen and the Royal Family,†the actor said in a statement to Today. “Prince Philip was the man. And he knew it. 99 and out, but what an innings. And what style. Thank you for your service, old chap — it wouldn’t be the same without you.â€
In the first two seasons of the Netflix series, Smith portrayed Prince Philip as an irreverent, charismatic man stifled by the constraints of his role as husband to the queen, played by Claire Foy, and lashing out at his wife as a result. In subsequent seasons, Menzies’s portrayal of the Duke tended more toward the stern and melancholic across from Olivia Colman’s Queen Elizabeth II. The Two Popes’ Jonathan Pryce will portray Prince Philip, alongside new sovereign Imelda Staunton, in The Crown’s upcoming fifth and sixth season, the former of which is set to arrive in 2022.