Crown cast sings Mr. Sandman in video shared by Gillian Anderson

Gillian Anderson has drip fed The Crown fans behind the scenes of Season 4 over the past week.

And the most recent was a video between takes of the Ibble Dibble scene – in which her character Margaret Thatcher spends a weekend at Balmoral with the royals and is forced to participate in the board game.

While Thatcher feels very uncomfortable during the scene, the off-camera vibe was far from it.

In the video, Gillian films her co-stars as they sing to the 1954 Chordette tune, Mr. Sandman.

Helena Bonham Carter, who plays Princess Margaret, sits with Tobias Menzies as Prince Philip, Stephen Boxer, who plays Denis Thatcher, Olivia Colman, who portrays Queen Elizabeth II, Marion Bailey as Queen mother and Erin Doherty as Princess Anne.

The actors all have black markings on their faces after playing the drinking game, which sees the players quickly reciting a language shift.

If they do trip, they should be marked with a tampon – usually a burnt bottle cap.

The actors also took close-up selfies with their faces tagged, smiling for the camera.

The scene is meant to represent the time Thatcher and her husband first stayed at Balmoral, in August 1979.

On the plane to Scotland, Denis warns his wife of the “ secret tests ” new guests can expect to encounter while visiting the Scottish residence.

“Apparently, the royal family regularly put all of their guests under secret tests to find out whether someone is acceptable or unacceptable, U or non-U, gang or non-gang,” he explains. .

As soon as the Thatchers arrive at the Aberdeenshire Estate it becomes clear that they are unsure of social protocol.

First, Denis mistakenly tries to tip the staff, then Mrs. Thatcher protests someone else unpacking her husband’s bag, and finally they come down for a casual drink wearing a black tie.

The Queen recovers quickly and orders dinner to be made in 45 minutes, but it is too late for Mrs Thatcher, who says, “I don’t think we passed that test.”

The couple then broke away at the dinner table, with Mr Thatcher confronting the Queen Mother during the set.

The next day, the Prime Minister shows up to hunt with a skirt, blazer and dress shoes. The queen later gently suggests that she go home to change.

Princess Margaret is also a terror to the Prime Minister, blaming Mrs Thatcher for working on a public holiday; for sitting at a desk in a chair that once belonged to Queen Victoria; and for referring to Elizabeth II as Margaret’s “sister” rather than “the queen.”

The Prime Minister decides to shorten the reprieve, citing a “constitutional crisis”. This does not impress either the Queen or Princess Margaret.

The current season has been distinguished by critics for its accuracy. And while the royals don’t set explicit “ tests ” for their guests, the protocol that guests should follow will no doubt feel like “ tests ” for the uninitiated.

Former Royal Butler Grant Harrold, who worked for the Royal Family for seven years and met many of the Queen’s guests, told the Daily Record: ‘Balmoral, like Sandringham, is the Queen’s private family home. It’s a great place to hang out with the royal family and for them to get to know you.

“It can be a bit of a test to make sure you pass the rally. You’re going to want to dress the role, speak the role, and behave the role.

For aristocratic guests, this is easily done because they grew up in a similar environment. This was not the case for Mrs. Thatcher.

However, there will have been no mental torment, no rude staff and no discomfort from wearing the wrong clothes and shoes.

Despite this, Princess Margaret was known to be ‘rude’ on occasion, even to guests. There is also a chair belonging to Queen Victoria which guests are not allowed to sit on.

The Prime Minister is said to have considered his first visits to Balmoral ‘purgatory’, according to Queen biographer Ben Pimlott, and would arrange to leave as early as possible on the last day of the visit.

However, we don’t think she ever interrupted a visit – and certainly never for some fabricated reason.