Matt Smith Says The Crown Pay Disparity Was “A Grave Mistake”

It’s going on six months since The Crown was caught up in a dubious pay dispute involving Claire Foy and former Doctor Who actor Matt Smith, and even to this day, the effects are still being felt.

For one, Foy recently admitted that she’s yet to receive any back payment from Netflix, after it emerged that she earned significantly less than her co-star Matt Smith for The Crown‘s opening two seasons. Frankly, it’s unacceptable, and the Powers That Be vowed that going forward, “no one gets paid more than the Queen.” And rightly so.

But now that Matt Smith is ostensibly finished with The Crown – you know, barring some cross-generational series finale, or a flashback to his time as Prince Philip – he’s had a chance to look back on the whole ordeal with the benefit of hindsight. And Smith did just that during a recent chat with Variety.

It was disappointing. I would never ask at work how much someone earns. Never. My dad taught me you never talk about money. So it was news to me. It was not something that I was aware of, but when we heard, I think we were both embarrassed really because Claire did the most work. She worked the hardest and she should be rewarded in response to that.

You certainly can’t argue with Smith’s reasoning. He’s one of the many TV actors poised to exit The Crown, as Netflix has already cast Tobias Menzies as the slightly older Prince Philip – ditto for Helena Bonham Carter, who takes over the role of Princess Margaret from Vanessa Kirby.

The Crown‘s third season is still filming across parts of the United Kingdom ahead of its projected return in 2019. Granted, Netflix is yet to announce an official ETA, but when it does, viewers will be ready to welcome a whole new era of aristocratic drama.