Josh O'Connor would "love to know" what King Charles thought of his work on 'The Crown'

Asked if he'd heard what the king made of his turn in 'The Crown', Josh told Vanity Fair magazine's Hollywood issue: "No, I'm the same as you. I'd love to know. I've not heard a thing. I guess he's been quite busy.

"My heart goes out to him in these times, but I've said it many times, I have great affection for him. I don't know him [but] for the person who I've done lots of research on, like a weird stalker. He's done an awful lot of good, in spite of a pretty bizarre life."

The 'Challengers' actor admitted he initially "wasn't over excited" about playing Charles because the idea was "very daunting", but ultimately looked at the role like just another character, rather than a portrayal of a real person.

He said: "These are characters. When I started working on Charles, I wasn't overly excited at the idea of playing a real person. The prospect of playing someone who exists, particularly someone who is present in our national psyche, was very daunting.

"The one film that I referenced in my head, that I loved, was Todd Haynes on Bob Dylan ['I'm Not There']. The reason I love that movie was the conceit that we don't know who Bob Dylan is. Joe's Bob Dylan is going to be very different to my Bob Dylan, which is going to be very different to my dad's Bob Dylan. Whatever he is, let's put eight actors playing different aspects of Dylan and let's present it. That's filmmaking at its finest.

"So with Charles, it was like, I did the research, everything that helps put together a script, but I never see it as having played Prince Charles.

"I just don't want to feel guilty. This is how I excuse myself."