
Helen Ryan
Born
June 16, 1938 (86 years old)
Known For
Acting
Place of Birth
Liverpool, England, UK
Helen Ryan (born June 16, 1938, in Liverpool, Lancashire) is a British actress, who is notable for playing several royal roles.
The Liverpool native played Princess and then Queen Alexandra in the British television series Edward the Seventh, for which she received a BAFTA nomination in 1975. She also played Princess Alexandra in the 1980 movie The Elephant Man and the Sherlock Holmes story "The Mazarin Stone". She played another royal, Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, in the 2002 television drama Bertie and Elizabeth. Her other credits include Madame Balzac in the TV series Prometheus: The Life of Balzac (1975), Mrs. McFarlane in the Sherlock Holmes story "The Norwood Builder", and films such as Clash of Loyalties (1983), Misunderstood (1984) and The Hawk (1993). More recently, Ryan has appeared as Peggy Roath, a personal aide to Queen Elizabeth II, in the fifth season of The Crown in 2022. In 2023, she appeared in the BBC soap opera Doctors as Thelma Scott.
She was formerly married to the theatre director Guy Slater, with whom she had a daughter, Rebecca, and a son, Daniel.

Old Guy
Tory Dolinski
2024

The Raisin
Woman at Door
2017

The Crown
Queen's Dresser · (4 episodes)
2016
Saddam Goes to Hollywood
2016

Fallen Angel
Angel's Neighbor · (3 episodes)
2007

Confetti
Naturist Violinist
2006

The Brides in the Bath
Mrs. Farraday
2003

Bertie and Elizabeth
Queen Wilhelmina
2002

Midsomer Murders
Mrs. Hilliard · (1 episode)
1997

Bella Block
Meredith Walters · (1 episode)
1993

The Hawk
Mrs Crowther
1993
Harry
Lady Jenvey · (1 episode)
1993

Heartbeat
Betty Hawkins · (1 episode)
1992

Crystalstone
Aunt
1987

My Brother Jonathan
Lavinia Dakers · (5 episodes)
1985

Sherlock Holmes
Princess of Wales · (1 episode)
1984

Sherlock Holmes
Mrs McFarlane · (1 episode)
1984

Misunderstood
Lucy
1983

Clash of Loyalties
Gertrude Bell
1983

The Elephant Man
Princess Alex
1980
Jenny Can't Work Any Faster
Maureen
1975

Edward the Seventh
Queen Alexandra · (13 episodes)
1975

Van der Valk
Eva Maris · (1 episode)
1972

Persuasion
Mrs. Harville · (5 episodes)
1971
The Lift
Margot
1965