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Claire Foy and Matt Smith, the stars who play Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip in Netflix's epic royal drama 'The Crown', are stepping down from their official duties.
We knew the actors were likely to only appear in two seasons of London's favourite Netflix drama, but Foy has confirmed their imminent departure, calling the fleeting nature of her regal role 'a real plus'.
'That's it, I'm on the bench. I'm not even on the bench; I'm just in a different team on my own. Unemployed! We're gone, we're gone,' Claire Foy said, adding: 'That's not a shock; we always knew when we signed up to it, and also not to be funny but it's also a real plus.'
'As an actor there's nothing worse than the sound of seven years. I'm sure to some people it sounds amazing but to us it's like, seven years of playing the same person? And this is a tough job, you know? It's long, a good nine-monther. That's a lot of your life that you sign over to it.'
'I'm going to miss it terribly,' the 32-year-old added, speaking at this weekend's BFI and Radio Times TV Festival. 'But I just can't wait to see where it goes.'
Both Foy and Smith are leaving the Golden Globe-winning Netflix series at the end of season two, with both roles then being re-cast. As they leave, new faces are set to join. Producer Suzanne Mackie has also revealed that 'The Crown' fans can expect an appearance from Camilla Parker Bowles in season three.
'The Crown' season one is available to stream on Netflix.
In other news, Prince Philip might have an affair in 'The Crown' season two, Netflix's '13 Reasons Why' could get a second series and we've picked the 28 best documentaries to watch on Netflix UK