‘House of the Dragon’ Is Not the First Time That Matt Smith Had to ‘Bend the Knee’

House of the Dragon’s first season ended with Princess Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) making her claim to the Iron Throne. During her hasty coronation, Prince Daemon (Matt Smith) placed King Viserys’ (Paddy Considine) crown on her head. Then — along with everyone else present — he bends his knee to the new Queen of Westeros. However, the House of the Dragon Season 1 finale was not the first time that Smith had to “bend the knee.”

Prince Daemon supports Rhaenyra’s claim to the throne in ‘House of the Dragon’

With King Viserys’ death at the end of the first season, the Targaryen civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons has arrived thanks to two claims to the Iron Throne. His daughter, Rhaenyra, was named heir when she was a young woman. However, his wife Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) later gave birth to a son, Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney), who many lords in the realm of Westeros argued should surpass the named heir.

Before word of Viserys’ death made it to Rhaenyra, the Green Council crowned Aegon. But after her daughter is stillborn, the funeral becomes Rhaenyra’s coronation. Right there by her side to support her claim was Daemon. He placed her father’s crown on her head, called her “queen,” and bent his knee.

Matt Smith had to ‘bend the knee’ before ‘House of the Dragon’

Before Smith became Prince Daemon Targaryen in House of the Dragon, he played a young Prince Philip in the first two seasons of The Crown. Season 1 dramatized the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, and there was a detail that the Netflix series included that caused a bit of controversy.

In the episode titled “Smoke and Mirrors,” Philip took charge of Elizabeth’s Coronation Committee.  He wanted the event to show the world what a modern queen looks like, which resulted in the ceremony being televised. 

Part of that ceremony included the Duke of Edinburgh kneeling to the new monarch after she was crowned. But according to the Netflix series, Philip had a problem with bending his knee to his wife. The implication was that this caused conflict in their marriage.

Prince Philip had no problem bending the knee to Queen Elizabeth

In one scene, the royal couple fought about the Coronation. It portrayed Philip angrily requesting that his wife make an exception for him so he does not kneel before her during the ceremony.

He asks her, “are you my wife or my queen?” To which she replies, “I’m both.”

“I want to be married to my wife,” Philip says. The queen declares, “I am both and a strong man would be able to kneel.” But Philip still refused. “Your wife is not asking you to,” she says. To which he replies, “But my Queen commands me?”

“Yes,” Elizabeth tells her husband. “I beg you, make an exception for me,” he pleads. “No,” she says.

The reality, though, is that it is highly unlikely Philip had a problem bending his knee to his wife because he was fully aware of royal protocol and what was expected of him. 

Per Hello! Magazine, royal expert Christopher Wilson said, “I doubt Prince Philip ever spoke those words to his wife because he came from a royal household which had borrowed so much of its ritual and protocol from the British Royal Family. He knew full well what was expected of him in public, and was prepared to go along with it.”

Seasons 1-5 of The Crown are on Netflix. Season 1 of House of the Dragon is currently available on HBO Max.