Claire Foy, Colin Firth And More Stars Who Have Played Royals In Movies And TV Shows

Royal families have captivated people all over the world for centuries. For millennia, royal families have experienced successes, tragedies, and power conflicts. It seems like an attractive topic for movie producers. So it's not strange that their stories, as well as those of their forefathers, have been replayed over and over again in cinema and television. They may occasionally even inspire the production of television shows and movies.
Many actors and actresses have had the opportunity to play former and current royals in films and television shows based on both history and fiction. Some have resulted in award-winning performances that critics and viewers admire, while others have been roundly criticized and mocked.
We questioned how many actors got the chance to portray members of the royal family on screen and who among them was the best. So we decided to compile a list of the top 15 actors who have played members of the royal family. Scroll down to enjoy and leave your comments below!

#1 Damian Lewis as Henry VIII

Source: BBC

Damian Watcyn Lewis CBE is an English actor, presenter, and producer who was born on February 11, 1971. He is most recognized for his work on Showtime's blockbuster series "Homeland." For his portrayal of Sergeant Nicholas Brody on the show, Lewis won best actor prizes at the 2013 Golden Globe Awards and the 2012 Primetime Emmy Awards. However, shortly after he was killed off the program, he appeared in the BBC's version of Hilary Mantel's "Wolf Hall" as King Henry VIII.
The most notorious British king is King Henry VIII. His life has thus been the subject of numerous Movies and television programs. Lewis gives the least stereotypical portrayal of the Tudor king in "Wolf Hall."

#2 Cate Blanchett as Elizabeth I.

Source: Universal Studios

Catherine Elise Blanchett, an Australian actress, and producer, was born on May 14, 1969. She is regarded as one of the best actors of her generation and is well-known for her ability in independent and mainstream films as well as on stage. Cate Blanchett's Hollywood career was begun with Shekhar Kapur's "Elizabeth." She received her first of seven Academy Award nominations for her performance of Elizabeth, along with the Golden Globe and BAFTA Awards for best actress.
The British actress Emily Watson was Kapur's first choice for the role, but she declined it. Blanchett was later cast in a considerably less successful sequel in 2007. Soon after, Cate Blanchett was chosen, and her energetic performance helped the movie transcend its meager goals and become something more fascinating.

#3 Saoirse Ronan as Mary Queen of Scots.

Source: Focus Features

Irish actress Saoirse Una Ronan was born in America on April 12, 1994. Since she was a teenager, she has primarily been recognized for her performance in period dramas. She has won numerous awards, including a Golden Globe, and has been nominated for four Academy Awards and five British Academy Film Awards. "Mary Queen of Scots" (2018) was advertised as the official (though dramatized) portrayal of Mary Stuart and Elizabeth I's rivalry: a ferocious two-hander between the two 16th-century queens played by Margot Robbie (Elizabeth) and Saoirse Ronan (Mary Stuart).
It's understandable why Focus Features, the film's distributor, started with this. Two of today's greats are Ronan and Robbie. But this movie isn't a fight scene. Ronan is the director of the movie "Mary Queen of Scots." Ronan does a fantastic job of portraying Mary as a fumbling, medieval jumble of vulnerability and bravado.

#4 Olivia Coleman as Queen Anne.

Source: Fox Searchlight.

Olivia Colman is the stage name of Sarah Caroline Sinclair CBE, an English actress. She has won multiple awards and is well known for her humorous and dramatic roles in movies and television. For her portrayal of Queen Anne, the founding queen of Great Britain, in Yorgos Lanthimos' outrageous and magnificent period drama "The Favourite," Olivia Colman won the best actress Oscar in 2019.
For those who are unfamiliar with Lanthimos's work, he is frequently referred to be the "lord of the Greek strange wave"—a group of Greek filmmakers renowned for their distinct style of the frightening, eccentric, and profoundly creative film.
With a performance that is unusually aggressive, humorous, and devoted, Colman equals Lanthimos on every level in "The Favourite," which is no exception. She is a new kind of royal that we have never seen.

#5 Judi Dench as Queen Elizabeth I.

Source: Miramax Films

English actress Dame Judith Olivia Dench was born on December 9th, 1934. She is regarded as one of Britain's top actresses and is known for her versatility in a variety of theatrical productions, films, and television shows spanning several genres. "Shakespeare in Love", a 1998 film, earned Judi Dench the Academy Award for best supporting actress for her eight minutes on screen.
"Shakespeare in Love"'s plot is launched by Dench's funny and frightful portrayal of Queen Elizabeth I. It has since served as the primary inspiration for all other on-screen representations of England's Virgin Queen. During her acceptance speech at the 1999 Oscars, Dench referred to her limited screen time: "I feel for eight minutes on the screen. I should only get a little bit of him,".

#6 Colin Firth as King George VI.

Source: Momentum Pictures

Actor Colin Andrew Firth was born in England on September 10, 1960. He has won numerous honors, including two British Academy Film Awards, a Golden Globe, and an Academy Award. Given how poorly "The King's Speech," which was directed by British director Tom Hooper of "Cats," turned out, his work on it is particularly impressive. It is romantic and kitsch. Even to look at it is extremely challenging.
Hooper, who seems to think of himself as a visual rebel, frequently forces his camera up against Firth's face at an uncomfortable angle, leaving inappropriate amounts of negative space — the space around the main subject in an image — in the frame.
This was likely Hooper's attempt to capture the feeling of alienation Firth's King George experienced when he was confined in his elocution lessons and battling his voice stutter, but it falls flat. However, Firth's acting is delightful.

#7 Sydney Morton as Meghan Markle.

Source: Lifetime

The announcement of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's engagement came in November 2017, and they wed in May 2018. Their love has since been the subject of three full-length movies produced by the American cable network Lifetime. They are all awful movies.
The worst, though, is "Harry & Meghan: Escaping the Palace" in 2021. In the movie, the couple's separation from the royal family is shown.
Throughout the movie, there are several poor recreations of the couple's experiences. Sydney Morton plays Meghan in "Escaping the Palace," but she is devoted to Lifetime's cheesy theatricality. She knows the joke, and it shows in her act.

#8 Claire Foy as Elizabeth II.

Source: Netflix

Claire Elizabeth Foy is a British actress who was born on April 16, 1984. She has won several honors, including two Screen Actors Guild Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Golden Globe Award. In "The Crown," Foy's outstanding performance as Britain's longest-reigning king feels vital. She served as our introduction to the imaginary lives of the British royal family. Aside from that, her performance was nuanced in ways we've never seen before on screen.
The early years of Queen Elizabeth II's reign as monarch have never been thoroughly depicted on television or in a movie before Peter Morgan's excellent series "The Crown."

#9 Emily Blunt as Queen Victoria

Source: Momentum Pictures

British actress Emily Olivia Leah Blunt was born on February 23, 1983. She has received several honors. She was included among the highest-paid actresses in the world by Forbes in 2020.
"The Young Victoria" was one of the earliest motion pictures to dramatize the difficult early years of Queen Victoria's reign and the beginnings of her love affair with Prince Albert. Sarah, Duchess of York, who later approached Graham King, the movie's producer, with the concept, first came up with it.
Emily Blunt, who plays a fascinating Queen, does everything in her ability to transform the movie's modest subject matter into something more royal and fascinating.

#10 Helen Mirren as Elizabeth II.

Source: Pathé Distribution

Actress Dame Helen Lydia Mirren was born in England on July 26, 1945. Despite being older, Helen Mirren's portrayal of the Queen in the 2006 film "The Queen" isn't all that wiser. The movie, which was written by Peter Morgan, dramatizes the conflicts between Prince Charles and Prime Minister Tony Blair. Prime Minister Tony Blair wanted the world to mourn publicly for Princess Diana's passing, and Queen Elizabeth wanted to keep the death of Diana a private, personal matter.
In all of Queen Elizabeth's reign, this was the most turbulent and scandalous time. The spectator is left wondering why this mother (Mirren's Elizabeth) was so icily callous and insensitive to her daughter-in-passing laws after watching Morgan push past the apparent towards the end of the film.

#11 Emma Corrin as Princess Diana.

Source: Des Willie/Netflix

Emma-Louise Corrin is an English actress who was born on December 13, 1995. In the fourth season of the Netflix historical drama series "The Crown" in 2020, she played Diana, Princess of Wales. For this role, she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Television Series Drama.
Her performance also produced some of the best internet memes that a Netflix drama could hope to produce.

#12 Helena Bonham Carter as Princess Margaret.

Source: Des Willie/Netflix

Actress Helena Bonham Carter was born in England on May 26, 1966. She has won several awards and is well known for her parts in indie and blockbuster movies, especially period dramas. On "The Crown," she took Vanessa Kirby's place as Princess Margaret in seasons three and four. Carter wasn't a very good Princess Margaret, but Kirby was: gorgeous, interesting, and vulnerable.
But Carter's Margaret was impolite, resentful, and unyielding. That is a much more true portrayal of Margaret's personality even in her earlier years, according to historians (and rumors). Carter ends up on this list as a result.

#13 Charles Dance as Lord Mountbatten.

Source: Netflix

Actor Walter Charles Dance was born in England on October 10, 1946. In seasons three and four of "The Crown," he portrayed Lord Mountbatten, the maternal uncle of Prince Philip and the second cousin of Queen Elizabeth. Dance is included on this list as a result of season three, episode five, which is one of the most captivating episodes of "The Crown."
The episode is focused on the little-known truth that Mountbatten was once asked to organize a coup against the British government to usher in an unelected administration that he would preside over. "The Crown" slightly exaggerates the truth; in reality, Mountbatten is claimed to have rejected the offer right away, labeling it treason. In "The Crown," however, Dance deliberates and concocts plans until the Queen restrains him. The television is exciting!

#14 Matt Smith as Prince Phillip.

Source: Netflix

English actor Matthew Robert Smith was born on October 28, 1982. He has never achieved superstardom of any kind. Possibly, as a result, he was the ideal choice to portray Prince Phillip, the longest-reigning consort in British history.
In "The Crown" first two seasons, Smith played Phillip alongside Claire Foy's Elizabeth. Additionally, Phillip's storyline in the show was rather straightforward: an ambitious man feels overshadowed by his wife. Even less intriguing was how Phillip handled his situation (infidelity, moaning). However, Smith's portrayal was marked by an emotional tension that compelled people to empathize. An impressive feat!

#15 Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana.

Source: Neon

Kristen Jaymes Stewart is an American actress and director who was born on April 9, 1990. She was the highest-paid actress in the world in 2012 and has won numerous awards.
Stewart's Diana in "Spencer" is lost and frail; after being thrown into public life, she has not yet realized the power she possesses. However, she has decided to seize control by the end of the movie. This is similar to Stewart's career in many aspects, who gained popularity with the film adaptations of "Twilight" series and subsequently appeared hesitantly in several mindless Hollywood franchises before finding her artistic voice in Europe's art houses.