Princess Margaret has been a key character over the last two seasons of The Crown. The rebellious royal was played by Vanessa Kirby for series one and two, and now Helena Bonham Carter will be taking over the reins.
Helena Bonham Carter hit the headlines last month when she announced she had met with a psychic to get Princess Margaret’s approval before taking on the role.
She said on BBC’s Graham Norton Show: “I did meet a psychic, who’s a friend of mine, and I was seeing her.
“She does healing. She does other things, but she also has a talent for mediumship and as I was seeing her for something else, she said, ‘Oh, Margaret is here. Does that mean anything?’ and I said, ‘Yes, it does.’”
At the time, Bonham Carter had been asked to play the role, but was yet to accept.
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She added: “I said, ‘Well, yeah… If you’ve got the horse’s mouth in the room, you’re not going to say no.’
“I said, ‘Yeah’ and I asked, ‘Would you mind if I played you?’
“She did say, ‘I think you’re a better idea than the other actor.’
“They never told me the other possibility.”
Bonham Carter said: “She just couldn’t feign, which is an appalling lack when you are famous and you have to meet all these people.
“Whatever was in her head popped out of her mouth. She was like a time bomb.”
Bonham Carter descends from a long line of British politicians, and her paternal great-grandfather was H.H. Asquith.
And according to Bonham Carter, the late Princess Margaret also had a personal connection with her uncle.
Former Liberal MP Mark Bonham Carter is thought to have gone out with Margaret while he was a Grenadier Guard at Windsor.
Bonham Carter said: “They always remained good friends.
“I have photos of them together and they look really dashing as a couple … It was definitely pre-Townsend. They remained forever friends.”
The Crown series three debuts on Netflix on November 17.
