Claire Foy was secretly dealing with a family crisis while she filmed The Crown.

The past few years have seen Claire Foy’s career take off as she portrayed Queen Elizabeth on hit Netflix series, The Crown.

But behind the scenes, she was quietly coping with a very serious family crisis.

At the end of 2016, around the time The Crown was first released, her husband, Stephen Campbell Moore, fell ill. A benign tumour was discovered on his pituitary gland at the base of the brain, which controls metabolism.

The Crown’s filming schedule continued, however, and though the 33-year-old gave a flawless performance as the reigning British monarch for the second season, she privately dealt with the possibility she may soon be a widow and single mother to the couple’s young daughter.

Listen: The Binge host Laura Brodnik explains how one small scene in The Crown answered our biggest royal question. 

Moore, who Foy met on the set of 2011 film Season of the Witch, underwent surgery to remove the tumour.

“You realise you’re not the most important person in that process, and everybody who loves you goes through far worse,” the 38-year-old actor told The Sun.

“My daughter didn’t know what was going on at all. But my family did, and I could see it in them.”

Moore said that he had to prepare for the worst as he went in for surgery each time.

“You write a letter. But it’s all very much on the off chance that something did go wrong, because every part of you is saying that nothing will.

“Waking up and being told the operation had gone well was understandably a huge relief.”

This wasn’t Foy’s first encounter with tumours. She herself was diagnosed with an eye tumour at 17 years old.

“It was horrible and debilitating, but it made me realise that I needed to grab the life I wanted,” she told British Vogue in October.

“If that hadn’t happened, I don’t know if I would have been brave enough to throw my cards on the table and say I wanted to study drama.”

Thankfully, the tumour could be treated without surgery and instead with steroids.

Now, Foy is looking to the future and growing her career post-Crown. Olivia Colman will take over the role of Queen Elizabeth for The Crown season three.

She’ll next star alongside Ryan Gosling as Janet Shearon, wife to Neil Armstrong, in First Man.

Listen: The biggest, most talked about moments from The Crown season two. Plus all the hidden references you may have missed.