Joanna Lumley is convinced the Royal Family is "much closer than we think".
There has been ongoing reports of a rift between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and the rest of the royal family, after the pair quit as senior royals in early 2020, but the Absolutely Fabulous star is sure the whole family are a lot closer than believed.
Joanna also slammed Netflix show The Crown for turning real people into "made up different people", as she praised the royals for being so "kind, friendly, polite and not grand".
As she discussed the alleged division between members of the royal family, she told ITV's The Jonathan Ross Show: "I think we all look from the outside and we don’t actually know what’s going on on the inside – we second guess it.
"And I think we all believe television shows that are made about them, like The Crown. I don’t watch it because I know it’s made up... these are real people and suddenly they’re made up to be different people and I don’t think it’s right."
She continued: "I don’t think we really know what goes on behind anybody’s closed doors. I think, I have a suspicion, that that family’s much closer than we think."
Joanna has met the royals on multiple occasions and praised them as "so kind and so friendly and so polite and not grand". She added: "You’ll find kindly, good-hearted people."
The actor and presenter has penned a book about the Queen and she even sent it to Her Majesty, who responded to her about the book and "sent her warmest wishes".
She said: "I sent her a copy of the book. I asked the aides of the palace, they said, ‘We’ll see that it’s placed before Her Majesty’.
"I love the idea that it went in on a trolley and it was placed before Her Majesty, who might have even picked it up and looked at it with that lovely Andy Warhol image on the front.
"Her majesty sent a message to say she was grateful I’d taken the trouble to send the book and sent her warmest wishes."
She recalled one story about the Queen and how "down to earth" she was.
"She is down to earth. A friend of mine who was a grand old painter, he painted the Queen several times," she shared.
"One day she was sitting for him and she said, ‘Do you think it’s cold in here?’ She said, ‘I think it’s cold.’ She got on her knees, got some twigs… set a little fire going [in the hearth]. You kind of don’t imagine the Queen doing that."
*The Jonathan Ross Show airs on Saturday at 10.05pm on ITV and ITV Hub.
