The Crown: Princess Anne actor Claudia Harrison admits she broke strict Netflix rule after getting role

Claudia Harrison has made an admission regarding her role in The Crown that might make Netflix bosses angry.

The actor appears in season five, which was released on the streaming service. on Wednesday (9 November).

Harrison plays Princess Anne, replacing Erin Doherty, who starred as the character in season three and four.

Creator Peter Morgan changed the cast of the show every two seasons in order to reflect the passing of time, meaning many were excited to find out who would be playing the royals in the final two seasons. The fifth season is set during the Nineties, while the sixth and final season is expected to cover events of the Noughties.

Due to the secretive nature of the announcements, all of the new cast members, including imelda Staunton, Jonathan Pryce and Lesley Manville, had to sign NDAs, promising they would not reveal the news prematurely.

However, during an appearance on Good Morning Britain (GMB) on Thursday (10 November), Harrison admitted to breaking this rule

“I’d love to be really cool – it’s Princess Anne in The Crown, it’s not a national security thing – [but] when I got cast, I was with some friends and I told all of them,” she said.

Harrison said the news spread even further, as “they told their husbands, and they told their friends”.

Princess Anne’s early appearances in the new episodes involve her burgeoning romance with Queen Elizabeth II’s former equerry, Timothy Laurence (Theo Fraser Steele), whom she married in 1992.

She was previously married to Mark Phillips, with whom she had one daughter, Zara, who is married to former rugby pro Mike Tindall.

Tindall is currently a contestant on I’m a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! alongside Boy George, Charlene White, and Matt Hancock.

Harrison previously told The Independent that she believes the British public will be “surprised by” the “truth” of tampongate, which is a storyline featured in the new season.

Viewers of The Crown have expressed their “struggle” with Staunton’s performance due to the villainous role she played in Harry Potter.

Meanwhile, the return of Claire Foy in an early scene has left fans overjoyed.

The Crown is available to stream on Netflix now – find The Independent’s review here,