Nestled among the high drama around Princess Diana and the shame of Tampongate, this season of The Crown features a whole arc about two sisters coming to terms with each other while sharing a few laughs over the phone. The sisters in question are Princess Margaret and Queen Elizabeth II, and as played by Lesley Manville and Imelda Staunton, they’re as comfortable together as any pair of British aunts.
“We go a long way back, Imelda and I,†Manville tells Vulture. The two have starred in films from director Mike Leigh, won acclaim on the stage, and even played pixies together in Disney’s Maleficent films. Their natural chemistry deepens the complexity between Margaret, once a star of the tabloids who has come to chafe at the relative freedom now enjoyed by younger royals, and the ever-dutiful Elizabeth. Things come to a head in the fourth episode of the season, “Annus Horribilis,†in which Margaret reconnects with an old love the queen pressured her to push aside and lashes out at her sister.
I love the exchange you and Imelda have at the end of episode four. You say you love each other, then you go, “God, that was middle-class, promise me we’ll never do that again.†What was it like to film?
We’ve been friends for many decades and we’re comfortable with each other. We’re similar sorts of actors in that we’re very hardworking, very prepared, then we let that groundwork go on the day and play the scene. If you’re relaxed and confident enough to go with the flow of that, it’s very special. It’s a powerful scene, because there’s stuff being said that hasn’t been said for a long time, stuff Margaret really needs to say.
The great thing about the scene was that it’s not the queen and the princess. It’s two sisters. I wanted Margaret to feel like she was having the upper hand in some way; the costume designer, Amy Roberts, said, “How about we just drape you in a mink coat?†That was a real bonus for me, because there’s nothing more decadent than a mink coat. It’s such a status symbol.
There’s something interesting in you and Imelda, who have played many middle-class characters, especially in Mike Leigh films, saying those lines.
Imelda and I try to keep that variety of characters going. I love the fact that I’m playing Margaret and putting that alongside my more recent stuff, which couldn’t be further away in terms of social class.
She even mentions Princess Margaret in Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris.
She does! Because Margaret would’ve been dressed by Dior many times, especially in the 1950s, her media heyday.
Between this, Mrs. Harris, and even Phantom Thread, you’ve played a recent run of women who are all very invested in the idea of luxury, and of beautiful clothes specifically.
Margaret having a sophisticated wardrobe is essential, and likewise for Cyril in Phantom Thread. For Ada Harris, it’s more of a longing and a desire, but it’s the same set of feelings. I mean, I completely get it. I love clothes. I’m very aware of how wearing something nice makes me feel. Let’s face it, we’ve all been too long in sloppy clothes because of COVID. I’m still finding things in the back of the wardrobe that I haven’t worn in three years. I’ve played plenty of women who are way less interested in that, but certainly those three women are. I must avoid couture at all costs in the next job I take.
Were there props or costumes that helped get you into character as Margaret?
Funnily enough, the cigarette holder is something you need to get used to. I don’t smoke, but I’ve smoked a lot in plays and films. But smoking with a cigarette holder is different because the holder is quite heavy! All the props are so specific. You even have letter-headed paper saying “Princess Margaret.†I’ve been working for so long that the ooh-aah factor of a job could’ve been lost on me, but there’s a lot of oohing and aahing on this job.
What sort of research did you do on Margaret before playing her? Did Peter Morgan talk about any specific angle he wanted to explore?
I met with Peter Morgan, but he left me alone, and it was nearly two years before we started filming. I did read all the books and watched footage and listened to her. There’s a wealth of information about her. Then, as the time got nearer, you start to work with voice coaches and a movement coach, costume, hair, and makeup — the wig is an important thing, getting the shape right. Then, of course, I had watched, but then rewatched, seasons one to four of The Crown. Helena Bonham Carter and Vanessa Kirby did great performances as Margaret, though I’m not trying to emulate them, because I’m playing her at a different time of her life.
It’s all a bit more dialed down. She’s entering a period of her life that’s calmer, more about supporting her sister, being a slightly more hands-on royal, and confronting what this time in her life is handing her, which is a great deal of loneliness and solitude. It’s about how she deals with that alongside the security her sister has of a marriage and a full-time job. Margaret doesn’t like having an empty diary. When you’ve been an iconic young woman, I imagine it’s very hard when you get older, to come to terms with not being this iconic young woman anymore. Apparently she had more news coverage than Princess Diana. I supposed because, back then, newspapers were all you had, that’s where you would see pictures of somebody. The psychology of handling that when that is not the life you’re having anymore is interesting.
In that episode, Peter Townsend comes back into her life in the form of a James Bond, Timothy Dalton. What was it like to play that rekindling of a relationship?
The truth is that they did meet up again, but obviously we dramatized our circumstances. It makes for good drama to have him hear her on Desert Island Discs, which chronologically wouldn’t have happened. It’s lovely to bring him back into her life, not because it’s a case of making the audience think they’ll finally be together — because we know they didn’t get together — but it serves as a beautiful segue into her sense of not being able to have the life she might have wanted to choose. You put that alongside her observations of the queen’s children, who are marrying who they want, separating and divorcing and potentially marrying again. All choices she didn’t have!
I read that you missed an opportunity to meet Princess Margaret once, off an invitation from David Bowie.
I couldn’t take it! I was in Mustique staying with David, and I had to go back because I wasn’t well and he said the next night there was an open house party and Margaret was playing the drums. It was really annoying that I missed that.
Do you know what she was playing on the drums? Was she any good?
He didn’t go into detail, but listen, I didn’t need the details. It’s such a great image. I’ve done the rest of the work with my imagination. I’m sure she was having a great time. Why wouldn’t you play the drums? If I went into somebody’s house and there was a drum set, I’d want to play it.
Have you met any of the other royals?
I’ve met King Charles. He came to see a play I was in quite some time ago. I’ve met William, because he gave me an OBE, and I’ve met Princess Anne because she gave me a CBE. I wouldn’t say I know them in depth, but they were charming, extremely generous, and very nice. I was certainly very impressed with William when he gave me that OBE, because he was giving about 80 awards that day, and he seemingly knew something about each person. I don’t know if he had an earpiece, but it was impressive. He knew what to say to me, and delivered it in such a warm and friendly manner. I thought, Oh God, that’s tough, because I hate doing small talk.
Did you talk at all with Helena or Vanessa about this part?
I haven’t, actually, and I know them both, but only sort of socially. I’d love to get together with them once we’ve done all the shooting. I’ve watched their performances and they were brilliant, but I don’t know how helpful it would be to have their thoughts about what they were doing with their Margaret, because I have to do my Margaret. But boy oh boy, the pair of them! A very good baton was passed on.
Margaret has a lovely-looking dog called Rum, and really, there are so many dogs on The Crown. How are they to work with?
I’m all right with dogs, but they’re tricky to work with because they’re trained dogs, and the trainer is always in the room when you’re doing the scene. The most difficult thing is to make the dog look as if they’re interested in you, rather than the owner, because all they want to do is look at the owner to see if they’re going to get a treat. Sometimes you have to let it all calm down a bit, so that they fall asleep. Sometimes it’s just very difficult to get them to look here when they want to look over there.
They don’t understand they’re not the main character right now.
They don’t understand that. They don’t get billing in the way that I do.