Lesley Manville: ‘Is there anybody left on the planet that thinks The Crown is a documentary?’

Lesley Manville has slammed down the portcullis. “It’s a political situation. It’s a Netflix situation. It’s not a Lesley Manville situation.” I’ve only asked the new Princess Margaret in The Crown whether she’s ever acted in something so contentious. But since stepping into the role of the Queen’s sister in season five of the blockbuster drama, and being on the front line of an increasingly surreal controversy about its relationship to the truth (“inaccurate, hurtful… crude sensationalism,” roared Dame Judi Dench), Manville has mastered the art of deflection.