UPSTAGED BY JACKIE KENNEDY’S STYLE

The world had never seen a power couple quite as glamorous as the Kennedys. The series shows how the Queen starts to worry that she looks distinctly middle-aged compared to the beautiful Jackie. ‘Jackie is a modern woman in a modern age, and Elizabeth feels very much like she’s been left behind,’ says Claire Foy. ‘She doesn’t really like that, which is odd. You wouldn’t think she would be that petty, but it’s a very human emotion to think, “Hang on, what about me?”’

Nowhere is this more obvious than in the dresses they wore for a 1961 banquet held for the First Couple at Buckingham Palace, which have been copied in the show (inset). ‘The story is all about the new world coming to the palace, and the clothes depicted that brilliantly,’ says costume designer Jane Petrie. ‘The Norman Hartnell dress the Queen was wearing was very 50s England. It was high glamour compared to the people around her, but then you see her next to the sleek outfit Jackie’s wearing, which looks so fresh and modern. The Queen’s dress is not very flattering, I had to be careful not to make her look like a toilet roll holder, but our version is probably a bit more flattering than the real one was.’

In the show the Queen is made aware of nasty remarks about her made by Jackie (Jodi Balfour) at a party – based on something royal photographer Cecil Beaton wrote in his diary. There is a rapprochement – also based on a real meeting between them – but not before the monarch has proved she’s just as influential as the First Lady.