‘The View’: ‘The Crown’ star Helena Bonham Carter says Princess Margaret ‘didn’t really mind being number 2’
In today’s episode of ABC’s ‘The View’, acclaimed British thespian Helena Bonham Carter graced the table with her presence. The actor known for her roles in ‘The King's Speech’, the ‘Harry Potter’ franchise, ‘Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street’, ‘Fight Club’ and more spoke to Whoopi Goldberg, Abby Huntsman, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin and Meghan McCain about her role in the Netflix’s historical drama, ‘The Crown’.
Bonham Carter plays the role of Princess Margaret, the younger daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth and the only sibling of Queen Elizabeth II, in the show. Bonham Carter took over the role in seasons three and four from the Bafta-winning Vanessa Kirby.
“She has been dead a while,” she said. “But I did meet her in real life once. She was typically ambivalent in what she said to me. She said, ‘Oh, you are getting better at acting, aren’t you?’” Bonham Carter added, “She was good at complimenting and putting you down at the same time.”
Commenting on the late princess’ personal life -- Princess Margaret was reportedly suicidal at one point and she has always been portrayed as a lonely woman with a fondness for drinking and smoking -- Bonham Carter said, “I think at times she was unhappy, but there were also times when she was perfectly happy. I think if you’re that famous, you can’t be smiling all the time.”
“She was somebody who I think -- she had sadness and everything. But she also knew how to have fun,” the British actor added. “And she certainly, having now gotten to know her, she didn’t have any self-pity. She didn’t walk around going, ‘I’m tragic’.”
“She had a good time, and she was very clever. But it’s hard to be that famous and that -- I think she was vulnerable too,” she said. Talking about the sibling rivalry that has been portrayed in ‘The Crown’, she said, “There’s the Peter Morgan version and there’s the real one.”
“I mean I would hate to necessarily second guess what they really, really felt. We’ll never know what they feel. So we can project onto them what we want. Sibling rivalry, for instance, is something that affects us all… On the whole, the people who I met -- I went to lots of good friends of hers -- and they said she didn’t really mind being number two. She minded about being short,” she said.
On the pressures that the Royal Family faces at the hands of the media -- the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Harry and Meghan, will reportedly not spend Christmas with the Queen at Sandringham and that has caused something of a scandal -- Bonham Carter said, “It doesn’t matter. Just let them be. Who gives a…”
'The View' airs every day at 2 p.m. ET on ABC.
