Although it may be hard to imagine Queen Elizabeth II putting her feet up on a gold silk pouffe and tuning into Netflix after a hard day of reigning over the UK (actually, now that I've said it, it's not all that hard to envisage...), it turns out Her Majesty does have an unexpected favourite TV show. Before you say, "Yeah, The Crown, duh!" and roll your eyes – let me stop you there, as apparently it's actually... The Durrells.
Originally an ITV series but now available on Netflix too, the programme (which is set in the 1930s) follows a British family who up sticks and move to Corfu to start life over. Telling the hilarious anecdote of how he found out his show has a royal fan, actor Josh O'Connor (who coincidentally also stars in The Crown as Prince Charles) said at first he didn't actually take on board what he'd been told.
In a Radio Times interview, O'Connor said, "A crew member [from the The Crown] came to me one day and distracted me by talking about The Durrells. Previously, they had taken a photo of me [in character as Prince Charles] and sent it to someone, who'd sent it to someone else, who'd then sent it to someone else. As they were explaining it, I'd lost interest about who'd the photo had been sent to."
He continued on to say, "The crew member said that someone who saw the picture told him, 'I loved him in The Durrells, it's one of my favourite shows.' I just said, 'Oh, that's good,' thanked him and walked off. They said it was the most under-appreciated reply to their story. Because the fan they were talking about was the Queen." Casual!
"This crew member managed to get this picture of me to the Queen who’d said that she loved me in The Durrells! The real life Queen," said O'Connor, adding that he's delighted with having a royal viewer. "So we have another fan! It was a great thing for us. We were so pleased."
To be fair, if we were starring in a show that it transpired dear old Queenie is fan of, we'd be pretty chuffed too. Time to add The Durrells to your Netflix 'to watch' list?
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Jennifer Savin is Cosmopolitan UK's multiple award-winning Features Editor, who was crowned Digital Journalist of the Year for her work tackling the issues most important to young women. She regularly covers breaking news, cultural trends, health, the royals and more, using her esteemed connections to access the best experts along the way. She's grilled everyone from high-profile politicians to A-list celebrities, and has sensitively interviewed hundreds of people about their real life stories. In addition to this, Jennifer is widely known for her own undercover investigations and campaign work, which includes successfully petitioning the government for change around topics like abortion rights and image-based sexual abuse. Jennifer is also a published author, documentary consultant (helping to create BBC’s Deepfake Porn: Could You Be Next?) and a patron for Y.E.S. (a youth services charity). Alongside Cosmopolitan, Jennifer has written for The Times, Women’s Health, ELLE and numerous other publications, appeared on podcasts, and spoken on (and hosted) panels for the Women of the World Festival, the University of Manchester and more. In her spare time, Jennifer is a big fan of lipstick, leopard print and over-ordering at dinner. Follow Jennifer on Instagram, X or LinkedIn.
