Helen Mirren mocks outrage at Prince Harry joke about her playing his grandmother.
Dame Helen Mirren memorably won an Oscar for her portrayal of The Queen in the hit 2006 film - a part she now reveals prompted Prince Harry to make an extremely cheeky gag at her expense.
At 73, glamorous Helen is nearly 20 years younger than Her Majesty, but she says that didn’t stop the quick-witted Prince from calling her “Granny” at a film awards bash! The royal cheek!!
Asked on ITV’s Good Morning Britain whether Prince Charles had ever mentioned her playing his mother on film, she explained,“No that’s never mentioned… he’s too tactful. The younger [princes], Harry and William, have mentioned it to me and they have been very funny and very cool about it.”
She added, pretending to be miffed, “I think Harry once at an awards ceremony said, ‘And granny is here’ and I was rather insulted by that. I mean really!”
The Stephen Frears film, which was set shortly after the death of Princess Diana, won widespread critical acclaim, with movie-goers amazed at how Helen was magically transformed into Her Majesty.
Meanwhile, Helen, whose best known on television for playing detective Jane Tennison in Prime Suspect, also spoke on the show about Harry’s wife Meghan Markle - and she’s a fan of the Duchess of Sussex!
“I think right from the moment that relationship was revealed she conducted herself with incredible self-restraint, elegance, discipline and simplicity and humanity. I was an admirer... it’s an incredibly difficult life to lead, talk about pressure. I think she is doing it with great elegance.”
Of course, Helen is acting royalty and was made a Dame by Her Majesty way back in 2003 - three years before The Queen was released. And GMB host Ben Shephard quipped that it was like having royalty in the studio and asked the star if people treated her like a monarch...
“Maybe for the first one second but very quickly I disabuse them of that fact,” she replied.
Good Morning Britain is on ITV weekdays, 6am-8.30am.
