Adam Helliker: Queen tickled by her own series...

There has been much speculation in court circles, and among the programme’s producers, over whether the Queen was among the viewers, and whether she would have approved of its account of deeply personal topics such as her physical relationship with Prince Philip, or Princess Margaret’s affair with a divorced man. Now I can disclose that HM has watched all 10 episodes of the series, having been encouraged to do so by her son and daughter-in-law, the Earl and Countess of Wessex, who arranged for Saturday night viewing sessions in the sovereign’s private apartments at Windsor Castle. “Edward and Sophie love The Crown,” says a senior royal source.

NETFLIX Netflix series The Crown cost £100 million and has been praised for its production value

The Queen really liked it, although obviously there were some depictions of events that she found too heavily dramatised Royal source

“It has been a longstanding arrangement that they drive to Windsor at the weekend to join the Queen for an informal supper while watching TV or a film. They have a Netflix account and urged her to watch it with them. Happily, she really liked it, although obviously there were some depictions of events that she found too heavily dramatised.” Other members of the Royal Family are also fans of the series. Princess Eugenie enthused at a party last week: “The music is wonderful; the story is beautiful and you feel very proud to watch it.”

Mike Tindall has also said he and his wife Zara, the Queen’s granddaughter, are “addicted” to it, adding: “She’s brilliant, the one who plays the Queen. I think it’s a great show in terms of how they delivered it.” The drama, which cost £100 million, has been praised for its production values although it has been criticised for taking liberties with the truth, including its portrayal of the Queen’s relationship with Lord Porchester, her racing manager. Filming has just finished on the next series, which will again star Claire Foy as Elizabeth and Matt Smith as Philip, and will cover the Queen’s life between 1955 and 1964.

_______________________________________________________________________________ Her last regal role was in War And Peace as the seductive minx Princess Helene Kuragin; now Tuppence Middleton is to star in another BBC drama about a complex royal figure. Tuppence is filming Diana And I, which will focus on the days after the death of the Princess of Wales and its emotional impact on ordinary people. It will be based around the stories of four figures – a mother, a son, a wife and a boyfriend – whose lives momentarily cross over following the royal funeral in 1997. Whatever the merits of yet another programme about Diana, what viewers may really want to know is how Tuppence got her name. “Tuppence is what my grandma called my mother as a little girl and my parents decided to call me it,” chirrups the Bristol-born actress, 30. “I haven’t met another one – people remember it.” But is this twinkly thespian aware that Tuppence is also a euphemism for a lady’s fru-fru? “Er, I became aware of that when I went to drama school,” she says, giggling. “A guy from up north told me. When I informed my mum, she said, ‘Oh, sorry, darling. I had no idea!’”

GETTY Tuppence Middleton is filming Diana And I

_______________________________________________________________________________ It has been more than a decade since John Prescott pontificated to the nation as the syntax-mangling deputy prime minister. Now the Labour dinosaur will pop up on our TV screens again in a documentary about ageing. The old booby will join 12 other personages, including Esther Rantzen and Roy Hudd, as they look at changing attitudes among pensioners for the More4 four-part series, The Baby Boomers’ Guide To Growing Old. Lord Prescott, 78, will have something in common with another participant, Edwina Currie, 70. She, of course, had an affair with John Major, while Prescott enjoyed a two-year fling with his secretary Tracey Temple, who he ravished on his desk in Whitehall. Such romantics, ageing not so gracefully. _______________________________________________________________________________ Of all the mementos she has collected during her life and rackety relationships, the one that Jane Birkin treasured most was a felt monkey, given to her by her uncle when she was five. “I wouldn’t move without it, neither would Serge Gainsbourg [her mentor and erstwhile lover], says the breathy chanteuse, 70. “Once we missed a plane because we had to go back to a hotel and find the monkey before they chucked him into a bin, because he looked really hideous. “When Serge died, in a panic about what to leave with him, like some Pharaoh, I put Monkey in. So now I know exactly where he is.”

GETTY Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg

_______________________________________________________________________________ Most might agree that the election, so far, has lacked the levity of a satirical performer such as Rory Bremner or, going further back, Mike Yarwood. While Bremner has recently confined himself to low-key stage shows, Yarwood would have once been expected to make the public giggle at the lighter elements of such an important political event. His impressions of figures such as Harold Wilson and Edward Heath commanded an audience of 28 million viewers for a Christmas special in 1977. But Yarwood, 76 next month, is now retired, living on his own in a flat in Surrey. The pressure of his success had led him to heavy drinking and, in 1985, the break-up of his marriage to Sandra, a dancer. “She put up with a lot from me and it was my drinking that ruined everything,” he told the Sunday Express in his only recent interview. “I enjoy spending my evenings at home now because when I was working it was then that I should have been at home with my wife and children. “I loved getting laughs, it’s a wonderful feeling. I always say to myself when I’m feeling down, ‘I could do with a good laugh’.” _______________________________________________________________________________ With their wedding duties over, Prince George and Princess Charlotte have a special reason for wanting to hurry back home to Anmer Hall. They want to check on their latest pets: a flock of 36 Cuckoo Marans, a breed of French chicken. “Every morning they love collecting the eggs, which are a much darker brown than normal ones,” clucks my source close to the royal coop. “The gardener has put some of the eggs in incubators, so the children will soon be able to watch them hatch.”

_______________________________________________________________________________ Jeremy Irons leans to the left politically but his sympathy for a group of striking workers was tested when they interrupted a talk he was giving on TS Eliot’s Four Quartets at London University. Raising his mellifluous voice above the din of their megaphones, Irons, 68, told the disgruntled employees: “Please stop shouting. It’s not the way we do things. Those of you from other countries are here because England is reasonable.” He added earnestly: “I would be most grateful if you would let us talk about Eliot.” And they did. _______________________________________________________________________________

When he was in The Style Council, Paul Weller used to sing about his “ever-changing moods” but it has taken until now for him to admit that he was dogged by depression in his 30s. Says the Woking-born warbler, 58: “It’s taken me a long time to recognise it but depression is something I’ve suffered with over the years. I know I’ve always had that reputation of being grumpy but a lot of that really was proper depression.” In 1990, Weller saw a therapist but gave up after a few sessions. “Then I took antidepressants and everything was fine.” Indeed, the singer is feeling so perky he’s about to become a father again – his wife Hannah is due to give birth next month. It will be his eighth child. _______________________________________________________________________________ It took Monty Don many years before he discovered solace, and success, in horticulture. “I used to be very naughty,” says the Gardeners’ World presenter, 61. “Too naughty for my nice primary school. They couldn’t cope with me and I was asked to leave. “I was also expelled from my secondary school [Malvern College] and I even remember being kicked out of confirmation classes because I questioned Christianity. “I thought that what I wanted was sex and drugs and rock ’n’ roll. It took a few years to work out that gardening was something that could be an important part of my life.” _______________________________________________________________________________

GETTY Actress Caroline Quentin has her own manifesto for the position of PM