Helena Bonham Carter got Princess Margaret's 'blessing' for 'The Crown' from beyond the grave
If you were in any doubt of the fact that Helena Bonham Carter is the Mayor of Spookytown, this story will leave you in absolutely no doubt whatsoever.
The English actor told the Cheltenham literary festival that part of her preparation for the role of Princess Margaret in Season 3 of Netflix's The Crown involved contacting the princess from beyond the grave.
In addition to reading biographies, interviewing ladies-in-waiting, friends, and relatives, Bonham Carter also consulted a psychic, as well as an astrologer and graphologist.
Per the Guardian, the star said the psychic informed her that Princess Margaret said she "was glad it was me."
"She said, 'You’re better than the other actress.'"
"My main thing when you play someone who is real, you kind of want their blessing because you have a responsibility," said Bonham Carter.
The psychic's purported conversation with Princess Margaret reportedly proffered some insights into the princess' views on Netflix's casting.
"So I asked her, 'Are you OK with me playing you?' and she said, 'You’re better than the other actress,' ... that they were thinking of. They will not admit who it was. It was me and somebody else," she added. "That made me think maybe she is here, because that is a classic Margaret thing to say. She was really good at complimenting you and putting you down at the same time."
Princess Margaret, sister of Queen Elizabeth II, passed away on on Feb. 9 2002 at the age of 71.
"Then she said, ‘But you’re going to have to brush up and be more groomed and neater,’" Bonham Carter continued. "Then she said, 'Get the smoking right. I smoked in a very particular way. Remember that — this is a big note — the cigarette holder was as much a weapon for expression as it was for smoking.'"
The Crown Season 3 hits Netflix from Nov. 17, 2019.
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Rachel Thompson is the Features Editor at Mashable. Rachel's second non-fiction book The Love Fix: Reclaiming Intimacy in a Disconnected World is out now, published by Penguin Random House in Jan. 2025. The Love Fix explores why dating feels so hard right now, why we experience difficult emotions in the realm of love, and how we can change our dating culture for the better.
A leading sex and dating writer in the UK, Rachel has written for GQ, The Guardian, The Sunday Times Style, The Telegraph, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Stylist, ELLE, The i Paper, Refinery29, and many more.
Rachel's first book Rough: How Violence Has Found Its Way Into the Bedroom And What We Can Do About It, a non-fiction investigation into sexual violence was published by Penguin Random House in 2021.
