I would argue [princess] Margaret is the tragic figure of the century.

It was always said you couldn't have two sisters less alike. In a way [princess] Elizabeth was always internalizing everything and [princess] Margaret was always externalizing everything, so that became the basis. The storyline becomes about these two sisters: they're fighting for their position or trying to establish their identity in the world alongside each other and in relation to this establishment which only those two were a part of.

I would argue [princess] Margaret is the tragic figure of the century.

[Queen Elizabeth] is just the granny queen! She's our granny queen who shakes people's hands!

Everybody has an image of [princess Margaret], to a certain extent. But I felt it would have been harder if we were playing them as they are now. In a way, I don't know how much of a living memory we as a collective have of them in the '50s, when Margaret was 21 and this sort of Elizabeth Taylor. You don't think of your grandparents as being teenagers. You just can't - your brain just can't go there!

I started to really enjoy the fact that [princess] Margaret was an exhibitionist. Even on a day-to-day basis, Margaret's costumes were always so much more dramatic and bold than Elizabeth's were.

People are so much more fascinated by the royal family generally than in England.