It has recently been revealed that actress Claire Foy, who plays a young Queen Elizabeth II in The Crown, received a lesser salary than her male co-star Matt Smith.

Smith plays a young Prince Phillip in Netflix’s award-winning series and it was the show’s producers who broke the news that he had in fact been paid more than Claire Foy.

The news comes as inequality in pay and the #MeToo campaign continue to race through Hollywood. The Crown’s producers Suzanne Mackie and Andy Harries said that Smith had been paid more than Claire Foy in the first two seasons of the show.

Two Screen Actors Guild awards and a Golden Globe have been awarded to Claire Foy for her role as the Queen in the 1950s and 1960s. Matt Smith, however, hasn’t received such honours for his role.

The producers said that the difference in pay was a result of Smith’s television experience and success throughout his six year period as Doctor Who.

No further details of the pay gap were detailed but the producers did say that they would look to rectify the difference in the near future.

Variety reported Ms Mackie saying that in the future “no-one gets paid more than the queen”.

However, it will no longer be Claire Foy as the queen in The Crown with the third season of the show moving into the 1970s and an older queen necessary for the realism of the series.

Olivia Coleman is set to be the new queen in the upcoming Season 3 with Prince Phillip also due to be replaced. This is likely to place even more pressure on producers with new stars of the show unable to be judged based on the series performance.

Netflix refused to comment on the salaries of the actors.

Requests for comment were not returned for either Claire Foy or Matt Smith.

The pay gap in Hollywood has been an ongoing discussion over the last 12 months or so with evidence made clear in the annual Forbes’ lists. 2017’s list saw Emma Stone top the highest paid actress list with $26 million whilst Mark Wahlberg was the highest paid actor bringing in $68 million.

Earlier this year it was revealed that Wahlberg had received $1.5 million for reshoots of All the Money in the World, a vast contrast to his co-star Michelle Williams who received just $1000.

Following the reports, Wahlberg donated his salary to the Time’s Up movement that fights sexual misconduct in the workplace.