Claire Foy was paid an ‘embarrassing’ salary for ‘The Crown’ that caused uproar

British actor Claire Foy was lauded far and wide f9or her role as a young Queen Elizabeth in Netflix’s The Crown.

However, despite her stellar performance, the actor was initially paid an embarrassing salary, less than her male costar Matt Smith, who played her husband Prince Philip.

This secret was let out during a panel at the INTV conference in Jerusalem in 2018 as producers Suzanne Mackie and Andy Harries were asked the question.

“The producers acknowledged that [Smith] did make more due to his Doctor Who fame, but that they would rectify that for the future. Going forward, no one gets paid more than the Queen,” said Mackie.

The wage gap was soon closed as Newsweek reported that Foy would pocket $275,000 in back pay which covered the 20 episodes that were affected.

The entire pay disparity debacle came as an embarrassment for the show, and the production company, Left Bank took responsibility.

They issued a statement that read: “As the producers of The Crown we are responsible for budgets and salaries. The actors are not aware of who gets what and cannot be held personally responsible for the pay of their colleagues.”

“We are absolutely united with the fight for fair pay, free of gender bias and for a rebalancing of the industry’s treatment of women in front of the camera and behind the scenes,” they added.