Imelda Staunton has revealed she was "inconsolable" when Queen Elizabeth II died.
During an appearance on The Graham Norton Show on Friday, the actress, who played Queen Elizabeth II in Netflix's The Crown, recalled that she was filming the royal drama when the monarch died in September 2022.
"Lesley Manville and I were filming and were told there might be some sad news and were asked if we wanted to carry on," Imelda, 67, said. "We carried on and finished the day."
"Weirdly in the schedule I had 10 days off which was the 10 days of mourning," Imelda continued. "I was inconsolable that night. Obviously, I would have been sad, but I think it was fuelled by living with her for so long. I think when I went back to work people found it hard looking at me."
Elsewhere in the interview, the star shared that she felt "pressure" while filming the final six episodes of the series because they are set closer to the present day.
"Everyone knows this version of her, so it felt very present, and I felt a bit more pressure," Imelda explained. "In this final six episodes, there are particular issues that she faced at this point in her reign, which dramatically is interesting to play - Margaret has gone, The Queen Mother, and we have Charles and Camilla."
The actress also revealed that she put a lot of preparation into recreating the speech The Queen gave before Diana, Princess of Wales's funeral.
"I was listening to it every moment of every day for I don't know how long," Imelda remembered. "When we came to do it (on the show), I didn't talk to anyone because it was a very serious moment and a serious time, and I thought I would try and recreate that. It was very still on set, and I got lost in the moment."
The Downton Abbey actress portrayed the late monarch in the fifth and sixth seasons of the drama.
The final series is now available to watch on Netflix.
