IT has just been revealed a statue of Prince Philip will go up in Trafalgar Square honouring his years as consort to The Queen.
But the new series of The Crown suggests he hasn’t always been happy playing her sidekick.
The upcoming season of the Netflix drama sees the Duke of Edinburgh having a mid-life crisis after he meets the astronauts who completed the 1969 moon landings.
The real life reception took place at Buckingham Palace between Her Majesty, Philip, and the Apollo 11 crew — Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong and Michael Collins.
A TV insider said: “He becomes intrigued by the lunar mission and then he’s confronted by three men who have become world-famous leaders in their field.
“In contrast he had to give up being a naval officer after he married The Queen, a move which cut short a promising career in favour of a supporting role in the Royal Family.
“At the age of 48, he suddenly wonders what his place is in the world.”
The Queen meeting Apollo 11 astronauts Buzz Aldrin, , Neil Armstrong, and Michael Collins in 1970[/caption]
The new series, which starts on November 17, sees the prince struggle so much he even has a crisis of faith, which is no small matter when your wife is the head of the Anglican Church.
Though expectation is rising about Olivia Colman playing Her Majesty, and Helena Bonham Carter as Princess Margaret, word is that Tobias Menzies gives a brilliant depiction of Philip.
He even shaved half his hair off to nail the balding royal’s look — which might be a tad awkward if the actor ever gets to meet him.
READ ON FOR MORE OF ANDY HALLS’ BIZARRE TV COLUMN
Looking heated and blustery again
VIEWERS are used to seeing Piers Morgan trying to wrestle the limelight from long-suffering Good Morning Britain co-host Susanna Reid.
Now the show’s weather presenter, Laura Tobin, has suffered the same fate.
Lippy Piers on Monday spontaneously decided he’d step in front of the map and have a go at telling the nation whether to expect sunshine or showers.
But to Laura’s delight, he didn’t have a clue what he was doing, leaving her to smugly comment: “Not as easy as it looks, is it?”
He’s got some front.
bizbit
GEMMA Arterton has been cast as Sister Clodagh, the lead role in the BBC’s forthcoming three-part adaptation of Rumer Godden’s controversial 1939 novel Black Narcissus, a tale of sexual repression and forbidden love.
Sinead ‘hit by Prince’
SINEAD O’Connor claimed late superstar Prince attacked her in a drug-fuelled rage when she met him for the first time.
The singer, who also goes by the name Magda Davitt, made the allegations on Good Morning Britain on Monday – leaving Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid stunned.
Sinead said the alleged incident happened after she recorded her 1990 hit, Nothing Compares 2U, which was written by Prince.
She said: “He summoned me to his house one night and I foolishly went alone not knowing where I was.
“He was uncomfortable with the fact I wasn’t a protégé of his and that I’d just recorded the song.
“He was wanting me to be a protégé of his and ordered that I don’t swear in my interviews.
“Of course, I told him where he could go and he went for me.
“He went upstairs and got a pillow and he had something hard in the pillow.
“I’m spitting at him, he’s trying to punch me . . . ”
Sinead also went on to claim that Prince also broke the ribs of a woman who played in his band.
During the interview, Sinead said she was only saved from the attack by running out of the house and ringing a neighbour’s doorbell.
Tan-go to A&E
KATYA Jones’s hopes of an incident-free Strictly are unlikely to happen with new celebrity partner Mike Bushell.
The BBC Breakfast sports presenter has revealed he put a former dance teacher in hospital after an ambitious high kick went wrong.
Speaking about an audition for his performing arts degree in his youth, Mike said: “I went to a college for an interview and was asked to follow the teacher and do a series of moves.
“I kicked my legs in the air and took her down – she had to go to A&E.”
Mike’s partner Katya, who The Sun on Sunday caught kissing her celeb partner Seann Walsh during last year’s series, this week told the Radio Times she is determined to create some “iconic moves” with the journalist.
But perhaps not ones that lead to a spell on a drip.
must watch
WHAT? Love in the Countryside, BBC2, 9pm.
WHY? Presenter Sara Cox returns with the dating show which helps people living in rural areas to find a partner for long country walks . . . and rolls in the hay.
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Looks a bit Manc
VIEWERS of BBC1’s upcoming drama World On Fire will be forgiven for thinking elements of it look a tad familiar.
That’s because despite the World War Two drama being set in glamorous European capitals, the filmmakers used British locations including Blackpool, Wigan and Manchester.
Director Adam Smith admitted: “Sometimes we pretended Manchester was Paris – and sometimes we even pretended that Wigan was Paris.”
I’m surprised they didn’t try to pass off Blackpool’s main landmark as the Eiffel Tower.
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