Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu Plays Monique Ritz in Season 5 of The Crown

Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu's Netflix universe continues to expand. The French actress, who plays Emily's boss Sylvie Grateau in Emily in Paris and Catherine Barneville in Call My Agent!, has a small role in season five of The Crown.

"It was a very small thing but it was a lot of fun and I was so, so happy to be in it," Leroy-Beaulieu told You magazine. "Every episode is like a little film on its own. It’s crazily well written." It's unknown if she will also play a part in season six.

Leroy-Beaulieu made her acting debut in Roger Vadim’s film Surprise Party in 1983, and the majority of her career has been in France; she's appeared in nearly 40 films and 30 TV shows. Performing on screen is something of a family business. Her father, Philippe Leroy, had a career in Italian and French cinema.

In The Crown, Leroy-Beaulieu will play Monique Ritz (born Martine Ramseier) the widow of hotelier Charles Ritz, according to the Mail on Sunday. Charles Ritz, the son of Swiss hotelier César Ritz and Marie Louise Beck, took over ownership of the Ritz Paris after his father's death in 1918.

Charles introduced Monique into the hotel business when he asked her to redecorate the hotel in 1969. "I knew nothing about it," she said in a 1977 New York Times profile, "so I did it as if it were my home." When Charles died in 1976, Monique, then in her mid-50s, took over the Ritz Paris, and the hotel entered a period of decline—leading to Monique's decision to sell it three years later.

Monique Ritz's connection to the royal family may not be immediately obvious; however, in 1979, when she decided to sell the hotel, Monique sold the Ritz Paris to Egyptian businessman Mohamed Al Fayed (who will be portrayed by Salim Daw in The Crown). She features in a scene in episode three, where Fayed makes his pitch to Ritz for ownership of the hotel.

And there's a tragic connection, too: On August 30, 1997, Princess Diana (Elizabeth Debicki) and Mohamed's son Dodi Al Fayed (Khalid Abdalla) spent the evening in the Ritz Paris the night before their death. Princess Diana and Dodi Al Fayed's romance during the fateful summer of 1997 will undeniably feature in season six of The Crown.

After Monique Ritz sold the hotel to Al Fayed, she later became president and honorary president of the Caesar Ritz Foundation Niederwald. In January 2011, Monique died in Geneva; as she and Charles had no children, she is considered the last member of the Ritz dynasty.

Season five of the Crown premiered on November 9, 2022.

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