Dominic West has said he adapted his depiction of Prince Charles in The Crown following the release of Prince Harry's blockbuster memoir which contained a lot of detail about his fractured relationship with his father.
The English actor is reprising his role of the British royal, now King Charles, in the sixth and final season of the sumptuous Netflix drama.
The season encompasses some of the most turbulent events in the lives of the royals, including the death of Charles' former wife Princess Diana.
Speaking before the actors' strike West said: "They're sort of the worst period of Charles's life because it's the death of Diana and so there's a lot of the scenes of Charles trying to come to terms with that and breaking the news to his sons and trying to help his sons mourn and having varying degrees of success at that.
"There were some really heavy scenes this season and a lot of tears for Charles. And I love crying, so it was great."
When asked about portraying Prince Charles in a vulnerable state, given his straight-laced, stiff upper lip persona, West said he suspected the royal was "very emotional" in private.
However, he admitted his perception and depiction of Charles was changed after the release of Prince Harry's book Spare.
"He is very emotional and he's got real anger and I think he's got real sadness to him and real compassion and so I think he is very emotional," West said of his on-screen counterpart.
"What's great about The Crown is that you see these public figures in private and I suspect in private he's quite emotional, well that's the way I played him anyway.
"And then Harry wrote his book and said he never hugged him or anything, so we had to change that slightly. Now I've sort of assumed, guessed, that Charles is an emotional and rather open hearted guy in spite of his buttoned up exterior, which he obviously has to have in public."
The 54-year-old star of The Wire and The Affair said that portraying Charles' sometimes fraught relationship with his sons William and Harry was made easier as he has two sons the same age.
"I found it quite easy because I've got two boys the same age and though they don't give me as hard a time as William was giving Charles this season, it was great actually," he shared. "I felt on solid ground there, I knew what I was doing.
"In the latter half of the season where William is giving him a really hard time and he's very angry with him and won't talk to him and he can't get through to him, to his son, I can understand how that feels.
"I don't, fortunately, have that with my boys yet, but it's another way in which Charles is being punished and I think all parents are punished eventually by their children. Ultimately, they have to reject us in order to grow up in a way.
"I think when something horrifically tragic like happened to those two boys, their mother dying, someone gets the blame and Peter has written that most of the blame goes to Charles and it probably did and I found that very poignant and moving because it requires unconditional love.
"You can't get angry, you can't get defensive, you can't reason. You just have to love and admit your inadequacies and I think all parents have to do that. I've found that very moving."
Although West had a lot of "heavy" scenes this season, it wasn't all darkness. The actor reminisced on some of the more joyful memories while filming the series.
"There was a lot of set piece teas at Windsor Castle or Christmas day or family photos or weddings where all of us [the cast] were there.
"They were the biggest joy because you're in a room with a bunch of people you've got to know quite well by this stage and everyone looks like a member of the royal family so it's hilarious and then Imelda [Staunton] walks in and you go 'my god there's the queen'.
"I'm doing a silly sort of voice and everyone else is doing their funny voices and it's sort of like being in a touring panto show eventually, it's great.
"I loved it when we had tea because there would be proper cake, proper buns, proper biscuits, you know, and it was all made specially for us, it wasn't bought. The fruitcake was actually what did it for me. That's what I'll miss the most."
Episodes 1 - 4 of the last season of The Crown will launch on Netflix on 16 November.
