Helen Ryan

Helen Ryan born June 16 1938 in Liverpool Lancashire is a British actress who is notable for playing several royal roles The Liverpool native played Princess and then Queen Alexandra in the British television series Edward the Seventh for which she received a BAFTA nomination in 1975 She also played Princess Alexandra in the 1980 movie The Elephant Man and the Sherlock Holmes story The Mazarin Stone She played another royal Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands in the 2002 television drama Bertie and Elizabeth Her other credits include Madame Balzac in the TV series Prometheus The Life of Balzac 1975 Mrs McFarlane in the Sherlock Holmes story The Norwood Builder and films such as Clash of Loyalties 1983 Misunderstood 1984 and The Hawk 1993 More recently Ryan has appeared as Peggy Roath a personal aide to Queen Elizabeth II in the fifth season of The Crown in 2022 In 2023 she appeared in the BBC soap opera Doctors as Thelma Scott She was formerly married to the theatre director Guy Slater with whom she had a daughter Rebecca and a son Daniel