15 of the best actors to play the British royal family, ranked: from Kristen Stewart in Spencer and Helena Bonham Carter in Netflix’s The Crown, to Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth

Nov 15 , 2021

Some of the world’s most talented actors have portrayed British royals on screen, but who did it best? Photos: Handout, Netflix, Lifetime

Is Stewart’s Princess Diana better than Emma Corrin in The Crown? What about Judi Dench’s Oscar-winning portrayal of Queen Elizabeth vs Claire Foy’s performance?

Sydney Morton didn’t take herself too seriously in a recent Lifetime film about Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, while Colin Firth was a treat in The King’s Speech

Spencer is finally in cinemas, making Kristen Stewart the latest A-list star to portray a member of the British royal family on screen. Princess Diana features in plenty of other films and TV shows, too – and once you take the entire family into consideration, the list gets even longer. But not all actors delivered equally memorable performances. In fact, there are a few we’d even rather forget …

So who exactly blew audiences away with their portrayals? Here we rank 15 of the best actors to have played members of the royal family.

15. Damian Lewis as Henry VIII

Damian Lewis played King Henry VIII brilliantly in Wolf Hall. Photo: BBC

Damian Lewis is best known to international audiences for his role in Showtime’s hit series Homeland. He picked up best actor accolades at the 2013 Golden Globe Awards and the 2012 Primetime Emmy Awards for his performance as Sergeant Nicholas Brody on the show. However, soon after he left the show, he did a short stint as King Henry VIII in the BBC’s adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall.

Henry VIII is possibly the most infamous British monarch for the number of wives he managed to get through (and behead) during his reign. As such, there have been many films and television shows about his life. But in the well received Wolf Hall, Lewis provided perhaps the least clichéd interpretation of the Tudor king to date.

14. Emily Blunt as Queen Victoria

Emily Blunt is captivating as a young Queen Victoria. Photo: Momentum Pictures

The Young Victoria was one of the first films to dramatise the turbulent first years of Queen Victoria’s reign and the origins of her romance with Prince Albert. The idea for the movie was originally conceived of by Sarah, Duchess of York, who brought the idea to film producer Graham King. King joined the project with his long-time collaborator Martin Scorsese, while Julian Fellowes (creator of Downton Abbey and Gosford Park) provided the script, and the French-Canadian filmmaker Jean-Marc Vallée directed.

Despite the calibre of the team behind it, The Young Victoria was a lukewarm affair. Emily Blunt, however, is a captivating queen and does everything in her power to elevate the film’s small scope into something more regal and interesting.

13. Charles Dance as Lord Mountbatten