COUPLESIt's Over! Gillian Anderson & 'Crown' Creator Peter Morgan Split After 4 Years
Actress Gillian Anderson and The Crown creator Peter Morgan have broken up after four years together — shortly after Anderson’s played former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in season four.
The duo's split is amicable after they got together in 2016. Although Anderson and Morgan had an unconventional relationship as they seemed content living apart, their breakup still comes as a shock as they were each other's biggest supporters.
The pair was often spotted hand in hand during awards season and at the premieres of each other’s projects. While the exact cause of the split is unknown, their relationship has just run its course. However, work commitments and the fact that they both have children from previous relationships didn’t help the situation.
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The couple was first suspected to be an item in October 2016, when the Daily Mail reported that Anderson was telling her friends that she was dating the screenwriter, who is best known for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and The Queen.
Morgan was previously married to Lila Schwarzenberg, a.k.a. Princess Anna Carolina zu Schwarzenberg, whom he shares five children with before they called it quits in 2014. For her part, Anderson has a 26-year-old daughter, Piper, with Clyde Klotz, whom she divorced from in 1997, in addition to sons Oscar, 14, and Felix, 12, whom she shares with Mark Griffiths. Griffiths and Anderson split in 2012, and she was married to Julian Ozanne for two years before their 2006 divorce.
Anderson raised eyebrows this year when she told The Times that she and Morgan were happy to continue living apart as moving in together "would be the end" of their relationship.
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Anderson explained that she was happy that there was "nothing locking us in." Anderson also said that "it feels so special when we do come together. And when I am with my kids, I can be completely there for them. It's exciting."
"We choose when to be together," she said. "I start to miss the person I want to be with, which is a lovely feeling. And it is so huge for me to be able to see a pair of trousers left lying on the floor at my partner's house and to step over them and not feel it is my job to do something about it!"
Despite the split, the former flames remain great friends, but Anderson is not slated to appear in season 5 of The Crown as Thatcher’s story arc was completed.
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Season 5 of The Crown is reported to be released in 2022, with Imelda Staunton replacing Olivia Coleman as Queen Elizabeth II, Lesley Manville taking over as Princess Margaret from Helena Bonham Carter, Elizabeth DeBicki will replace Emma Corrin as Princess Diana and Jonathan Pryce will play Prince Philip after Tobias Menzies.
