The Crown’s Erin Doherty says Princess Anne gave her ‘some form of bravery’

Upcoming season is actor’s last as the straight-talking royal

The Crown star Erin Doherty has said playing Princess Anne in the Netflix series has taught her to be more brave and honest.

The 28-year-old star of the third and upcoming fourth series of the show said that in the past she has been guilty of “not wanting to upset people” in her personal life, but that playing outspoken royal helped to changed her outlook.

In a new interview for Town & Country’s Winter 2020 issue, for which Doherty graces the cover, the actor was asked what she had learnt from the role.

“I hope that it’s a commitment to being honest. Perhaps not brutally so, but just knowing that honesty is the best way to proceed,” she explained.

“I get in my head about not wanting to upset people, trying to make them happy. Now I think, they’re probably better off knowing how I’m genuinely feeling, and we’ll have a better relationship going forward. I do believe that’s come from Anne.”

Doherty added: “I hear myself saying things and I’m like, ‘Oh no!’ But it is better for it in the end, and I would never have had the courage to do that. She’s given me some form of bravery.”

(Town & Country/Richard Phibbs )

But, the similarities between the pair do not end there. Like Anne, an equestrian expert who competed in the 1976 Olympics, Doherty said she does not shy away from competition, having given up playing football to pursue acting.

“I think it’s why I’m so devoted to it now, because I’m like, well, I made a choice, and I stand by it,” she explained.

“I do have very black and white ideas about things. I'm in or I’m not. It's a love for it – if I could swim in it, I would, if I could bathe in it, I would.”

(Town & Country/Richard Phibbs)

The actor also reflected on how leaving her role in The Crown felt like “mourning”, with the upcoming season her last as Princess Anne.

“I genuinely have thought about this woman for hours and probably months,” she said.

“Months and months and months of contemplating her mind-state, so it is kind of like mourning someone at the end.”

(Town & Country/Richard Phibbs)

In a previous interview with told Town & Country, Doherty said that perfecting her character's updo was "its own beast", which could sometimes take up to two hours to replicate.

“Literally, I would sit in the chair, people would come in and go and come in and go, and I sat still in the same place,” the actor said.

"But it was so necessary for her character because it felt like her hair and her fashion were the way that she was able to express herself in the confined, controlled environment that she grew up in.“

However, Anne later revealed she spends much less time on her signature hairstyle.

“Actually I read an article the other day about the, I don’t watch Netflix and The Crown, but the actress was talking about how long it took them to do their hair like I did,” the royal said in an ITV documentary marking her 70th birthday.

“And I'm thinking, 'How could you possibly take that long?' I mean, it takes me 10 or 15 minutes.”

Series four of The Crown is available on Netflix from 15 November.