Acclaimed stage and screen actress Jane Lapotaire, beloved by modern audiences for her appearance in The Crown and Downton Abbey and revered by theatre lovers for a career that spanned decades, has died aged 81.
Lapotaire, who portrayed Princess Alice of Battenberg in the third season of The Crown, passed away on March 5. Her death was announced by the Royal Shakespeare Company on Thursday. No cause of death has been disclosed.
“We are saddened to hear of the death of RSC Honorary Associate Artist, Jane Lapotaire,” the company said in a statement. “A truly brilliant actress, Jane joined the RSC in 1974 to play Viola in Twelfth Night. A few years later she took the title role in Pam Gems’ Piaf, winning both Olivier and Tony Best Actress awards.”
The tribute also reflected on a long and distinguished relationship with the company, noting her powerful performances across some of Shakespeare’s most enduring works. In 1992, Lapotaire played Gertrude opposite Kenneth Branagh in Hamlet, directed by Adrian Noble.
Her final appearances with the company came decades later – in 2013 as the Duchess of Gloucester in Richard II alongside David Tennant, and in 2015 as Queen Isobel in Henry V, both directed by Greg Doran.
“Our thoughts are with Jane’s family and friends,” the statement added.
While she was widely respected in theatre circles, Lapotaire also enjoyed notable success on television. She gained major recognition for portraying the pioneering scientist in the 1977 BBC miniseries Marie Curie, and later appeared as Princess Irina Kuragin in season five of Downton Abbey.
For many younger viewers, however, she became best known for her moving portrayal of Princess Alice – the mother of Prince Philip – in The Crown, where her performance brought quiet depth to the character’s later life.
Lapotaire’s career was dramatically interrupted in 2000 when she suffered a cerebral haemorrhage and required emergency surgery. After spending a month in intensive care, she channelled the experience into the memoir Time Out of Mind, published in 2004, which went on to win praise for its honesty and insight.
News of her death prompted an outpouring of tributes from fans and theatre lovers online.
“Gosh! A phenomenal actor,” one admirer wrote. “I saw her in the lead role in Saint Joan at York Theatre Royal back in 1985 when I was only 14. It was one of my first visits to the theatre, but it stuck in my mind. Probably instrumental in a lifelong love of the arts. RIP.”
Another fan recalled being captivated by her performance as Lady Macbeth in a BBC Shakespeare production opposite Nicol Williamson in the 1980s. “Wonderful actor,” the tribute read. “Never forgotten that. I pretty much fell in love with theatre on the spot.”
Lapotaire is survived by her son, screenwriter Rowan Joffe, 53, whom she shared with her former husband, film director Roland Joffe.
Image: ITV
