Olivia Colman and Helena Bonham Carter have been spotted together for the very first time in their roles as royal sisters, the Queen and Princess Margaret, for season three of The Crown. The pair were dressed in funeral garb as they walked arm-in-arm together in Wincester on Tuesday and were spotted laughing and chatting to one another between takes. But which funeral were they attending?
Were they filming Churchill's funeral?
Since seasons three and four will focus on the years 1964-76, it could well be that Olivia and Helena were filming the funeral of Winston Churchill, who passed away in January 1965. Indeed, their all-black ensembles are very similar to the Queen and her younger sister's sombre outfits as they attended the Prime Minister's funeral, right down to the three-string pearls worn by Her Majesty, and Princess Margaret's fur collar.
READ: Royal events that could happen in The Crown season three
During Winston's funeral, the Queen broke royal protocol by arriving before the coffin and the Churchill family, when traditionally the monarch is the last person to enter a service. Speaking about the gesture in a Channel 5 documentary titled Elizabeth: Our Queen<, Winston's grandson, Nicolas Soames, spoke about the meaning behind her presence at the funeral, explaining: "It is absolutely exceptional if not unique for the Queen to grant precedence to anyone. For her to arrive before the coffin and before my grandfather was a beautiful and very touching gesture." Speaking about the pressure of playing the Queen, a role which she took over from Claire Foy, Olivia previously said: "She was just very supportive. She said I'll have a lovely time, everyone on it is amazing; the voice coaching is impeccable. Because they were all amazing, so I'm just full of fear because you don't want to be the one who screws it up. She's lovely and she said I can call her anytime."