Jodie Turner-Smith was hopeful about Meghan Markle's impact on the monarchy before her and Prince Harry's royal exit.
In an interview with The Telegraph, the British actress, who will soon portray King Henry VIII's wife Anne Boleyn in the U.K'.s upcoming Channel 5 series, shared her thoughts on the institution and the missed opportunity they had with the Duchess of Sussex.
While Jodie admitted she's only seen a few episodes of The Crown—she told the outlet it's not really her cup of tea—she did share her thoughts on the real-life monarchy. "I would not consider myself a monarchist," she said. "I think it's interesting that the institution is not changing with the time, or quickly enough. We have to look at things in a modern context. And only then we will recognize that certain things are archaic, and don't really serve us as a community and are limiting us. I think we should keep those things in stories and move on to something else in reality."
Jodie, who welcomed her first baby with Joshua Jackson in April, was then asked about Meghan possibly helping to modernize the monarchy.
"I think that Meghan could have been that," she told The Telegraph. "It was a terrible missed opportunity, the way in which it was not allowed to be something that really modernizes that institution, and to change it to something for the better. I think that's why there's dysfunction there."
As royal fans may recall, Meghan and Harry, who first announced their exit in early 2020, recently spoke to Oprah Winfrey about their decision to step back from the royal family. In the tell-all interview, which aired in March, both Harry and Meghan spoke openly about the lack of support she received from the monarchy throughout her time as a senior official.
Following the interview, Queen Elizabeth II said the family was "saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan."
In April, Harry flew from Southern California to the U.K. to attend his grandfather Prince Philip's funeral, marking the his first reunion with the royals since the bombshell interview. While Meghan, who is pregnant with the couple's daughter, was advised by her doctors not to travel. Still, she honored Philip on multiple occasions, including with a special wreath.