‘The Crown’s highest paid cast member revealed – and it wasn’t Claire Foy!

It has emerged that Claire Foy was paid less than her co-star Matt Smith in The Crown, despite being in the lead role.

Netflix’s award-winning period drama about the reign of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom launched in November 2016, starring Foy as Elizabeth and Smith as Prince Phillip.

In the latest example of the film and TV industry’s gender pay gap, the show’s producers have confirmed that Matt Smith’s fame from his previous work in Doctor Who meant that he received higher pay than Wolf Hall star Claire Foy.

However, they have said that this won’t be the case for the third and fourth seasons, in which Broadchurch star Olivia Colman will replace Foy as the Queen.

The Crown‘s co-producer Suzanne Mackie commented: “Going forward, no-one gets paid more than the queen.”

The actor who will play Prince Philip has not yet been announced.

The first two seasons of The Crown cost around £5 million ($7 million) per episode to produce, making it one of the most expensive television shows ever made.

Season 1 and Season 2 are available to watch now on Netflix. Season 3 begins filming in July and is expected to premiere in early 2019.