The Crown’s Olivia Colman reveals the item her husband stole from the palace

She is set to play Her Majesty the Queen in the upcoming series of Netflix’s The Crown, but her Olivia Colman has made a shocking admission about a recent visit to the monarch’s real-life abode Buckingham Palace.

The 45-year-old Oscar winner revealed that her husband didn’t leave the palace empty handed when the pair were invited to meet Prince William for a charity event at the iconic London landmark, after landing the leading role in the hit royal drama, succeeding Claire Foy who portrayed the monarch in her younger years.

Speaking to the Sunday Times, the Broadchurch actress confessed that her husband of 18-years Ed Sinclair pocketed a toilet roll from the bathrooms in the palace. She told Culture magazine: “My husband stole some loo roll just to say we got it from Buckingham Palace.”

However Colman is far from the first person to have lined their pockets during a visit to the Queen’s residence, as British TV host Piers Morgan also boasts a royal roll of toilet paper. According to the Daily Mirror, he said: “I had a fantastic loo paper collection from all the famous people’s houses I’ve been to. I had Simon Cowell’s, which is black and monogrammed, next to the Queen’s toilet paper from the palace.”

While Spice Girl Emma Bunton made off with a sign from the ladies’ bathroom during a trip to the palace and British presenter Denise Van Outen boasts an ashtray and a tissue box holder from the royal household.

Last month fans of the hit series were treated to a glimpse of the upcoming third season as a brand new trailer was released online. The 30-second clip was shared on social media by Netflix and showed Colman stepping into the shoes of The Queen, taking over Foy, who played the head of the British royal family in the first two seasons.

The clip, which shines a light on the Queen’s quick wit and sense of humour, begins with the monarch entering a drawing room at Buckingham Palace to be shown a mock-up of her new side profile, to be printed on postage stamps, replacing the version which depicts her as a younger woman.

by royal appointment, get ready to bow down to your *new* Queen pic.twitter.com/T8t5jRjVUE

— Netflix UK & Ireland (@NetflixUK) September 20, 2019

“Everyone is delighted with the new profile ma’am, which they feel to be an elegant reflection of Her Majesty’s transition from young woman to…” one of the Queen’s advisers says, to which Colman quips: “Old bat?”

“Just the tiniest changes,” the adviser then adds, before the Queen retorts: “A great many changes … Nothing one can do about it. One just has to get on with it.”

Fans went crazy over the clip, which came less than two months ahead of the show’s return to the streaming service in mid November. It received a flurry of comments in a matter of hours, with many people praising Broadchurch star Colman for her portrayal of perhaps the most famous woman in the world.

“Can’t wait! Absolutely loved season one,” one excited fan wrote. Another said: “Olivia Colman is a national treasure.” While a third commented: “Oh my gosh I cannot wait!”

As Colman steps into the Queen’s shoes, the show’s other leading characters will also be replaced by new actors as the show advances into the 1960s and ’70s. Princess Margaret, previously played by Vanessa Kirby, will now be portrayed by iconic actress Helena Bonham Carter. Prince Philip will be played by Tobias Menzies, replacing Matt Smith, and a young Prince Charles by The Durrells star Josh O’Connor.