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Prince Harry apparently called Matt Smith ‘Granddad’ after seeing him play Philip in ‘The Crown’

Smith shared plenty of fun anecdotes about the royal family during his recent visit to TODAY.

Matt Smith says Prince Harry had the perfect reaction to his portrayal of his grandfather, Prince Philip, in “The Crown.”

Left: Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, in 1958 / Right: Matt Smith as Prince Philip in Netflix's "The Crown."
Left: Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, in 1958 / Right: Matt Smith as Prince Philip in Netflix's "The Crown."Getty Images, Netflix

Smith played Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, in the first two seasons of the hit Netflix drama, and when the actor met Harry once at a polo match, he said the prince didn’t miss a beat.

“He rocked up to me and he went, ‘Granddad,’” Smith recalled during a visit to TODAY Thursday.

Prince Harry, Matt Smith
Matt Smith and Prince Harry once met at a polo event on May 6, 2017, in Ascot, England, though it's unclear if this is when Harry jokingly called the actor "Granddad."Max Mumby/Indigo / Getty Images

“I can’t claim to know if he watches ('The Crown') currently, but he watched a bit of it then,” Smith added.

The former “Doctor Who” star, 39, had plenty of fun anecdotes to share about his encounters with the royal family, including a lighthearted exchange he once had with the former Prince Charles, now King Charles III.

“I told him that I thought he had fabulous shoes, which he told me he’d had for 30 years,” he said. “They were red, they were like red brogues. They were beautiful.”

Smith also said he once heard that the late Queen Elizabeth II used to watch “The Crown.”

“I heard the queen had watched it, and she used to watch it on a projector on Sunday night, apparently,” he said.

But it sounds like her late husband was not an avid viewer of the drama series based on their lives.

“A friend of mine sat next to (Philip) at a dinner once … and my friend couldn’t resist by the end of the meal. He was like, ‘Philip, I have to ask, have you watched “The Crown?”’” Smith recalled. “And apparently (Philip) turned around to him and said, ‘Don’t be ridiculous.’”

Smith also opened up about the affection he developed for Philip while playing him in “The Crown.” 

“There was a sort of image about Philip as being a bit of a cad and a bit of someone who makes social gaffes and all that. And I found him to be — he was a real modernizer, he was really interesting,” he said. “I kind of fell in love with Philip, really, to be honest.” 

“And he loved (the queen),” he added. “He really made her laugh. They were a fabulous couple together.”

Smith, who was nominated for an Emmy for his portrayal of the prince, is now playing a very different prince on screen — Prince Daemon Targaryen in HBO’s “Game of Thrones” prequel, “House of the Dragon."