Stage actress and famous sitcom star, Harriet Thorpe, is coming to Chelmsford to play one of the Royal Family's biggest characters in the shows first performance.

Thorpe, who is most famous for her roles in Absolutely Fabulous and Brittas Empire, is excited about playing this new role in Chelmsford.

She said: "How could I not be excited? It's fun, it's charismatic and it's all set in one day. I think it's going to be really fun."

Princess Margaret was known for being less straight-laced than her sister, drinking heavily and smoking in between meal courses.

But Thorpe is used to playing colourful characters. She said: "The characters I play, they are always crazy ladies; I never play anybody remotely normal.

“They are kind of troubled souls, happy, psychotic, who cares, it’s fun.

"I'm the kind of person who would play the wicked queen."

The play, A Princess Undone, is about one day in the life of Princess Margaret.

Although a fictional story, the play is inspired by real events in Margaret's life.

It tells the story of how she discovers some revealing letters between Prince Charles and Princess Diana, which she intends to burn.

However, she finds other papers which relate to her, and her past catches up with her when an old gangster lover comes back on the scene.

A very prominent woman from arguably the most prominent family in the country, Thorpe is taking on a big role.

But she is not concerned about the potential criticism that comes with acting, saying she her main focus is just doing her job.

She said: “I think I always want to honour what the story is and the play the role without doing a caricature of somebody.”

“My focus is to do my job. I have to be there to honour the part and do my job to the best of my ability.”

“We can’t be defined by what other people think of us. If people don’t like it, then so be it.”

A Princess Undone will open at Chelmsford Civic Theatre on Thursday October 5 at 7:45pm and performances will also take place on the two consecutive evenings starting at the same time.