The Crown’s Claire Foy admits it’s “a real plus” to be leaving the series

Claire Foy’s reign as Queen on The Crown is coming to an end, but it turns out she’s pretty happy about it.

The Netflix period drama will recast the roles of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip for future series, meaning both Foy and her co-star Matt Smith will not be returning to the show.

After sticking with The Crown for two series, Foy admitted that she is relieved to have not had a longer commitment to her role.

Speaking at the BFI And Radio Times Television Festival, the actress said: “That’s it, I’m on the bench. I’m not even on the bench; I’m just in a different team on my own, unemployed! We’re gone, we’re gone.

“That’s not a shock; we always knew when we signed up to it, and also not to be funny but it’s also a real plus.

“As an actor there’s nothing worse than the sound of ‘seven years’. I’m sure to some people it sounds amazing but to us it’s like, seven years of playing the same person?”

Foy continued to describe how highly demanding the royal role is. She said: “And this is a tough job, you know? It’s long, a good nine-monther. And that’s a lot of your life that you sign over to it.”

She may be glad to be moving on from the show, but the Wolf Hall actress did insist that she is still “going to miss it terribly”. She said: “I’m going to miss it terribly. But I just can’t wait to see where it goes, I just can’t wait.”

No fear, The Crown fans. We still have another 10 one-hour episodes of Foy to look forward to as season two is expected to land sometime in November 2017.

The Crown series one is available to watch on Netflix.