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God save the … menstrual product?
The invasion of privacy is appalling; the conversation, bordering on cringey.
But its also, in its own way, kind of endearing.
They made each other laugh.
She knew how to rein him in.
And look at her now, the queen consort.
Williams cant begin to fathom how she did it.
Hows your day going?Its been great.
Do you know whats been a relief?
That rude bastard Dominic West has gone home and this interview is all about me.
Was itan egg-free dayfor you two?Everybody has been charming.
Either theyre very good liars or they all love the show.
Youre probably the only character allowed to have fun on the show.
I guess Anne, too.Absolutely.
And quite a saucy joke.
What other fascinating tidbits did your research uncover?I enjoy the fact she clearly likes to drink.
Her father imported wine after he left the military.
He imported wine and she enjoys a glass of Claret.
She was almost a professional smoker and legendarily rarely without a cigarette.
You see that so rarely now.
If you look back 20 years, everybody was smoking all the time.
It was quite hard.
I felt quite uncomfortable doing it, even on set.
Always some private joke going on.
Ive also heard shes got a really foul mouth and that she loves to swear.
My dad used it a lot.
Camilla said they made a buggers muddle of something, which was to make a mess of it.
Bugger is quite an entertaining swear word from another generation for us.
I think it probably wouldnt pass the politically correct fascists nowadays.
But yeah, that was my favorite one that I was allowed to add.
Oh, theres a few arses in there.
The last time I rode a horse wasThe Postmanbackin 1997.
I was hoping to do at least one hunting scene with Camilla.
Thats what season six is for.Lets hope so.
Now that Ive been elevated to Queen Consort, maybe theyll take some script notes from me.
And a pay rise.
Should I just go ahead and ask about the tampon phone-sex?Go, go!
What have you got?
Was this scene addressed early on in your casting process?
It was like,How do you do, Dominic West?
Im a huge fan of your work inThe Wire,and now lets talk tampons.
Then the famous comment itself wasnt I want to be your tampon.
It was, Knowing my luck I would end up as your tampon, which is British self-effacing humor.
To me, theres a continuum.
Theres the Benny Hill humor, which is Camilla just saying knickers and bottom and everybody falls about laughing.
And then theresThe Goon Show, which starred a man named Spike Milligan.
Who was the bloke in all thePink Pantherfilms?
Starring John Cleese as Charles and Michael Palin as Camilla.Cant you see it?
Terry Gilliam would then have a huge cartoon foot land on the whole scene.
I did laugh, and the laughter is there onscreen for you to see, and thats the point.
Then you go back and then theres this creeping feeling.
Its like,Oh my God, its that scene.
Theyre going to say those words.
Its like having your childhood diary read out by your mother to your father at the dining table.
Its some sort of living hell.
Charles just drops his head into his hands in profile and screams.
Isnt that a beautiful bit of filmmaking?
Anybody who says thatThe Crownis furthering the horrible reporting of this conversation, I disagree.
We all listened to it and were shocked about things that we all do and say.
It was their sense of humor.
It was their conversation.
Its not for us to judge them.
Did this scene help deepen your understanding of their relationship?Absolutely.
The fact that either of them had that published out there and still appear and walk around.
But theyre still out and facing the world with that.
We have never seen Camilla rise.
Theres never been aCamilla, Her Storyprogram or a Camilla tweet saying bugger off to the lot of you.
That expresses such incredible magnanimity and good nature and restraint.
Her restraint is pretty astonishing.Look at the extraordinary causes she supports.
Shes a real advocate for women.
She has worked for charities that support battered women and women whove been abused.
The one time I came across her was when I was a judge one year on the Booker Prize.
Shes the patron of the Booker Prize and also runs a book club for children.
Im a bit of an annoying fan of hers, Im afraid.
She was very funny.
I cant start my week without you.
TheresMoney Box Live,theresThe Archers Omnibus.
Try and incorporate that into your love play.
But Camilla got there.
Okay, challenge accepted.I want to hear your love play include the phrase Morning Becomes Eclectic.
Or This American Life.
I didnt think that would happen.
He needed to go home and just get off his high horse.
See, thats why I didnt want to talk to him.
He doesnt need another ego boost.Theres nobody else who needs to tell him hes sexy.
Thank you very much!
What were your perceptions of Camilla while growing up?
I was completely subjected to the propaganda of the time.
All I saw were the only pictures available of Camilla, of her looking hatchet-faced and miserable.
There was no other access and she was cut loose.
After Charles did the interview with Jonathan Dimbleby, her husband understandably wanted a divorce.
He was prepared to be in the marriage while the affair was reasonably discreet.
But once it was out there, he wanted a divorce.
It was quite a while before Charles was able to work out a way for them to marry.
In those years, she was cut loose.
She had to leave her family home.
She didnt have any protection.
She wasnt someone who had a PR person.
Those were dark, dark days.
She was the same age around then as I am now.
To lose all that is devastating in any life, however privileged you are.
How quickly did you befriend your wig?
It physically transforms you.
Oh my God …Which you will see in the Camilla wedding wig.
Oh, spoiler alert.
Anyway, no, they put the wig on me and my work was done.
I dont really have to do anything else.
Once they put the wig on, the performance is complete.
