Netflix’s The Crown Pay Gap Exposed

Just when you think the gender pay gap couldn’t get any more ludicrous, it does. This time, it’s with the news that The Crown’s Claire Foy, who played the Queen in the Netflix original series, was paid less than Matt Smith, who played Prince Philip. It’s not like Foy was playing the main character or anything…

Netflix’s gender pay gap was exposed during a panel show in Jerusalem on Tuesday when a member of the audience asked if Foy was paid the same as Smith. The producers of the hit series, Suzanne Mackie and Andy Harries, were honest and admitted to there being a disparity in pay between the actors. It was justified by Smith’s prior fame due to his role as the Doctor in BBC’s Doctor Who, but Mackie added that “going forward, nobody gets paid more than the Queen”.

The next series of The Crown, however, does not include either Foy or Smith, due to a complete re-casting in order to fit with the ageing of the Queen and Prince Philip in the show. Broadchurch star Olivia Coleman is due to star as the Queen next, and, thankfully, it seems she will be crowned, rightfully, as the biggest earner on the screen.