Dominic West hails The Crown as having a ‘place in history’ as series ends

Dominic West has said The Crown has a “place in history” ahead of the final instalment landing on Netflix.

The British actor, 54, plays Charles, Prince of Wales, in the royal drama and appeared at a celebration for the finale at the Royal Festival Hall in London on Tuesday along with the other stars.

West said: “I mean, it sounds corny, but I do feel very lucky to have been part of something which I think people will look back on as being a very major British TV show, that has its place in history.

“(I felt) immense pressure. I mean, apart from the fact that this is a very difficult time in his life.

“I was in this huge show that Josh O’Connor had done so brilliantly in, so ultimately, you have to forget all that and there was so much pressure, and I sort of thought, ‘F*** it, I’ll just have fun’.”

Charles was played by O’Connor during seasons three and four before West took over for the fifth and sixth instalment.

Netflix came under fire during season five, which was criticised by Dame Judi Dench and former prime ministers Sir John Major and Sir Tony Blair.

The streaming giant has said the show is a “fictional dramatisation” of events.

Lesley Manville, who plays the Queen’s sister Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, called it a “wonderful experience”.

She said: “You know, she’s such a complex, fabulous woman and having all of those layers to her. I mean, we know she’s was the party girl, the wild girl, the naughty one, the rebellious one, the funny one.

“But I’m playing her when she is still all of those things but she begins to be crushed by illness, and then at the end she’s quite lonely and lost. So it’s been terrific to play her, really terrific.”

Margaret was played by Harry Potter star Helena Bonham Carter and Napoleon actress Vanessa Kirby over the course of The Crown.

Part one of the final series, which followed the burgeoning relationship between Elizabeth Debicki’s Diana, Princess of Wales and Khalid Abdalla’s Dodi Fayed, and their deaths in a Paris car crash, received mixed reviews from critics.

Debicki and Abdalla also attended the celebration night and were dressed in white alongside Emma Corrin, who played Diana in season four.

Another Harry Potter star, Imelda Staunton, played the late Queen for the last two seasons, and Sir Jonathan Pryce – who plays Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, during the latest season – also attended.

Part two of The Crown’s sixth season will be released on Netflix on December 14, marking the end of the hit series.