Screenwriter of The Crown Peter Morgan (pictured) insisted the monarch ‘would have much preferred looking after her dogs and breeding horses to being queen’

The Queen is merely ‘a countryside woman of limited intelligence’, the writer of hit royal series The Crown has claimed.

In remarks sure to raise eyebrows amongst the millions of fans of the hit show, screenwriter Peter Morgan has insisted the monarch ‘would have much preferred looking after her dogs and breeding horses to being queen’.

‘If you had told me I would be doing this, I would have told you it was mad, hallucinogenic conjecture’, Mr Morgan – known for his republican sentiments - mused in the Sunday Times magazine.

‘I wouldn’t have guessed there would be anything more to say about this countryside woman of limited intelligence who would have much preferred looking after her dogs and breeding horses to being Queen.’

He also likened the ‘insane system’ of the monarchy to a virus, in a somewhat unflattering simile.

‘They’re survival organisms, like a mutating virus. Look at how many prime ministers are wheeled out in coffins, on stretchers, having made fools of themselves: Downing Street is full of sick people.

‘And yet she [the Queen] survives. It is clearly a deranged institution and a completely insane system, but perhaps it’s the insanity that makes it work.’

The Crown, which airs on Netflix, won a Golden Globe for best television series with further awards for Claire Foy and John Lithcow.

The first series followed the Queen and Prince Philip before and after her coronation, charting their tricky transition into Buckingham Palace.

Then and now: The Queen's love for dogs has remained constant. From the time before her coronation, through her early reign to the present day, her faithful corgis have been with her

Miss Foy and actor Matt Smith, who plays the young Duke of Edinburgh, will return for the new series .

Mr Lithgow will not return as Winston Churchill, as his character resigned in the last episode.

The second series will be set between 1957 and 1964, and will include episodes featuring President Kennedy and his wife Jackie. It begins on Netflix on Friday, December 8.

The Crown, which airs on Netflix, won a Golden Globe for best television series with further awards for Claire Foy (pictured) and John Lithcow

Mr Morgan explained the show’s success as down to him being ‘blessed with the richness of the history of the second half of the 20th century.

‘I’m also blessed because the system she is in is so ridiculous and illogical that even just to unpack it from a point of view of reason or logic is such a joy. And that’s why I do what I do and I’ll keep on doing it until they stop me’, he added.

Olivia Colman, the star of Broadchurch and The Night Manager, will take over the role of Queen Elizabeth II from Miss Foy for the following series.

She has said of her forthcoming role: “I’m so thrilled to be part of The Crown. I was utterly gripped watching it.”

Colman will be in series three and four of the show and is due to be seen in the role from 2019.

She paid tribute to her predecessor, saying: “I think Claire Foy is an absolute genius - she’s an incredibly hard act to follow.

‘I’m basically going to re-watch every episode and copy her.’