The Crown newcomer Emma Corrin has admitted to “feeling sorry” for the real-life royals, ahead of her debut in the new season of the Netflix drama.

Emma will play Princess Diana in the fourth series of The Crown, which also sees Gillian Anderson joining the cast as prime minister Margaret Thatcher.

In a new interview with Radio Times, Emma admitted that, unlike her on-screen character, she would “run a mile if anyone in the royal family asked me to marry them”.

Revealing she’s previously considered herself “indifferent” when it comes to the royals, she explained: “I do feel sorry for them. We know what happened to Diana. It’s an impossible situation.” 

Her “indifference” to the royals is quite a contrast to her co-stars Tobias Menzies and Josh O’Connor, who both admitted last year that they were not big fans of the monarchy.

Meanwhile, Emma recently told HuffPost UK that her own feelings towards the late Princess Diana were largely influenced by her family, particularly her mother.

“My mum particularly is just so fond of her, and has a real empathy with her,” the 24-year-old said. “So Diana has always kind of been a martyred figure to me.

“I feel like I got to know her better [through doing The Crown], like I’ve uncovered a lot of things, and I feel I understand her experience.”

The fourth series of The Crown will debut on Netflix this weekend, with critics having heaped praise on the new batch of episodes.

Read Emma’s full interview in the new issue of Radio Times, on sale now.