Helen Ryan

Biography

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.

Most Known For

Midsomer Murders

as Mrs. Hilliard

The Crown

as Queen's Dresser

Heartbeat

as Betty Hawkins

Sherlock Holmes

as Princess of Wales

Sherlock Holmes

as Mrs McFarlane

Van der Valk

as Eva Maris

The Elephant Man

as Princess Alex

Bella Block

as Meredith Walters

Old Guy

as Tory Dolinski

The Duchess of Duke Street

as Olive Bradford

Harry

as Lady Jenvey

Edward the Seventh

as Princess Alexandra

Edward the Seventh

as Queen Alexandra

Fallen Angel

as Angel's Neighbor

Confetti

as Naturist Violinist

Persuasion

as Mrs. Harville

Bertie and Elizabeth

as Queen Wilhelmina

Misunderstood

as Lucy

The Hawk

as Mrs Crowther

My Brother Jonathan

as Lavinia Dakers