‘The Crown’ and ‘Downton Abbey’ Star Dies: Jane Lapotaire Was 81

Jane Lapotaire, the British veteran actress known for her roles on stage as well as on The Crown and Downton Abbey, has died. She was 81.

The Tony and Olivier Award-winning actress died on March 5, The Guardian reported Thursday. No cause of death has been made public.

Lapotaire played Princess Alice of Greece, the mother of Prince Philip (Tobias Menzies), on two episodes of the third season of Netflix’s The Crown in 2019. She also played Princess Irina Kuragin, wife to Prince Igor Kuragin (Rade Šerbedžija), in an episode of Season 5 of Downton Abbey.

Lapotaire also had roles in Daphne du Maurier’s 2020 rendition of Rebecca, which starred Lily James and Kristin Scott Thomas, as well as Paramount+’s 2023 miniseries The Burning Girls. Her other credits include Antony and Cleopatra (1972), Lady Jane (1986), Surviving Picasso (1996), Shooting Fish (1997), and The Young Messiah (2016).

Lapotaire was also a celebrated stage actress, having performed with the Bristol Old Vic and the National Theatre under founder Laurence Olivier, as well as the Royal Shakespeare Company and The Young Vic, which she co-founded in 1970.

Her role as Pam Gems in Broadway’s Piaf earned Lapotaire a Tony Award in 1981, and the same role also earned her an Olivier Award for Actress of the Year in a New Play two years prior.

In early 2000, the actress was starring as Maria Callas during a tour of Terrence McNally’s Master Class, when she suffered a cerebral hemorrhage, which required two major operations and intensive care from which to recover.

Four years later, Lapotaire was able to return to acting, and in 2013, she joined the Royal Shakespeare Company to play the Duchess of Gloucester opposite David Tennant in Richard II.

In February 2026, Lapotaire was named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

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Following her death, the Tony Awards’ Instagram account shared a tribute for Lapotaire, remembering her “unforgettable performance in Piaf” and its lasting impact on audiences “around the world.”

Lapotaire is survived by her son, screenwriter and director Rowan Joffé, whom she shared with her ex-husband, Oscar-nominated director Roland Joffé.