“I think that Meghan could have been [one of the monarchy’s great modernizers],” the Queen & Slim actress, 34, told The Telegraph on Saturday, May 15. “It was a terrible missed opportunity, the way in which it was not allowed to be something that really modernizes that institution, and to change it to something for the better.”

She added that she thinks the lack of modernization is “why there’s dysfunction there.”

Turner-Smith is set to star as Anne Boleyn — the beheaded second wife of King Henry VIII — in an upcoming Channel 5 series of the same name. When asked what she thinks about the current state of the British royal family, she had some feedback to share.

“I would not consider myself a monarchist,” the U.K. native said. “I think it’s interesting that the institution is not changing with the time, or quickly enough. We have to look at things in a modern context. And only then we will recognize that certain things are archaic, and don’t really serve us as a community and are limiting us. I think we should keep those things in stories and move on to something else in reality.”

The Duchess of Sussex, 39, along with her husband, Prince Harry, announced they would be stepping back from their roles as senior members of the royal family in January 2020. Soon after, they relocated to California where they’re working on new projects while raising their son, Archie, 2. Meghan is also pregnant with the pair’s second child, a daughter, who is expected to arrive this summer.

After making their exit permanent earlier this year, Meghan and Harry, 36, sat down for an expansive CBS interview where they discussed their decision to leave the royal family. In the interview, the couple shared stories about struggling with mental health issues, racist comments at the hands of the British press and how their choice “saved” them.

“[Harry] made a decision that saved — certainly saved my life and saved all of us. But, you know, you need to want to be saved,” Meghan said in March.

Two months later, Harry further opened up about his life as a working royal during a conversation with Dax Shepard on his “Armchair Expert” podcast, comparing his previous life to “a mix between The Truman Show and living in a zoo.”

“I’ve seen behind the curtain, I’ve seen the business model and seen how this whole thing works and I don’t want to be part of this,” the Duke of Sussex added.

This story originally appeared on: US Magazine - Author:Sophia Vilensky