The Crown’s Claire Foy — Yes, The Queen — Was Paid Less Than Her On-Screen Husband

Speaking at the INTV conference in Jerusalem on March 13, executive producers of the Netflix series The Crown admitted to audiences that Claire Foy, a.k.a. Queen Elizabeth II, was paid less than her male co-star Matt Smith, who played her on-screen husband during the show’s first two seasons. Did you just spit out your tea? Same here. Turns out even the woman who portrays the Queen of England can’t get an equal piece of the banoffee pie.

TV brass said the reason for the pay disparity was that Smith came to the show an already established actor — most well-known for his time portraying the titular role on BBC’s Doctor Who from 2010 to 2013 — while Foy was a relative unknown. They didn’t, however, explain why her salary was seemingly not renegotiated despite the show’s enormous success.

Suzanne Mackie, creative director of Left Bank Pictures (which produced The Crown) also said at the conference that “going forward, no one gets paid more than the queen.” That’s really nice for Olivia Colman, who will take over the role of Queen Elizabeth II in Season 3, but how does that benefit Foy, the actor who laid the groundwork for Colman on the series, collecting much critical acclaim, a Golden Globe win and a few Globe and Emmy noms for the role along the way? (Notably, her male co-star, despite taking home more cash for his work, earned none.) All’s not lost though — Smith could make a right royal move and take a page from Mark Wahlberg’s notebook by donating the difference to a worthy cause.