Joanna Lumley has vowed never to watch 'The Crown' out of loyalty to the royal family

Joanna Lumley has admitted she avoids watching The Crown and similar series, or films, about the royal family, out of loyalty to the monarch and her children, who she is friends with.

Though the 75-year-old actor and author has seen some earlier episodes, when the plot travels closer to the times she knew of the royals, it didn't sit well with her.

The Absolutely Fabulous star told The Mirror Online: "Suddenly, it began to get closer and closer and they had people acting as Prince Charles, as Camilla Parker Bowles, as Princess Anne. I know them all.

"I know that's not how they speak or what they said or did. People say, 'Oh, well everybody knows that it's made up.' People don't, people think it's the truth.

"So I decided not to watch it anymore because I have some loyalty, as one would to anybody they know and like and are lucky enough to be friendly with.

"It's rather ghastly."

It is the thought that possible falsehoods are being spread about the monarchy, and people believing the untruths, which unsettles Joanna.

She added: "I mean think of somebody imagining what you say and then it becoming something spread around the world and people believing it's the gospel truth.

"It must be agonising. So I thought I should step away from it. I couldn't bring myself to watch it because it's made up."

Joanna has written a book about Queen Elizabeth II, titled A Queen for All Seasons: A Celebration of Queen Elizabeth II, to mark her Platinum Jubilee this year.

She received an OBE in 1995, and has met with the royal family on various occasions, and has insisted they are all "so friendly" and "good hearted people", unlike how some shows portray them, Joanna has claimed.

She said: "If you do meet any member of the Royal family, they are so kind and so friendly and so polite and not grand. You'll find kindly, good-hearted people.

"I think we are very honoured and very lucky to have the Queen."

Joanna holds the 95-year-old British monarch in high regard, and is in awe of her extraordinary character and determination.

Speaking about the reason behind her book, she gushed: "What I wanted to do is to show how an ordinary woman, because we are all ordinary people really, has made herself extraordinary through shared dutiful determination to do what's right.

"She's never faulted and never failed. My admiration for her has simply grown over the years because I think a lot of us would have just said, 'This is a nightmare, I am getting out of this, I don't want to do this anymore.' But you can't do that if you are Queen."