Sir Ian McKellen has shared his rather candid take on the late Queen Elizabeth II.
The Lord Of The Rings star was knighted by the former monarch in 1991, and 17 years later, received the Companion of Honour medal for his services to acting.
However, it seems she didn’t always make the best impression on Sir Ian.
“The Queen, I’m sure she was quite mad at the end,” he said during a wide-ranging interview with The Times, published on Friday. “And on the few occasions I met her she was quite rude.
“When I received a medal for acting, she said, ‘You’ve been doing this for an awfully long time.’ I said, ‘Well, not as long as you.’ I got a royal smile for that, but then she said, ‘Does anyone still actually go to the theatre?’.”
He continued: “That’s bloody rude when you’re giving someone a medal for acting. It meant, ‘Does anyone care a fuck about you because I don’t. Now off you go!’”
Sir Ian added that this exchange was followed by a handshake which, in his view, “meant, ‘go! Go!’”.
This wasn’t the only royal subject the six-time Olivier winner brought up during his interview with The Times.
On the topic of Prince Harry, Sir Ian said he was “most definitely” on the Duke of Sussex’s side.
“Imagine being born into the royal family. I’ve been in public life a bit, but these people are in prison,” he said. “They can’t do anything normal. Can you imagine having to be nice to everyone you talk to?”
He also discussed the decision to accept his knighthood in the early 90s, despite conversations at the time claiming he should turn it down.
“Of course, if I’d been a man of adamant principle I would have turned down the knighthood,” he said. “After all, many have done: Paul Scofield, Albert Finney, David Hockney, Harold Pinter – I’d have been in very good company.
“But my heroes — Sir Laurence [Olivier], Sir John [Gielgud], Sir Ralph [Richardson], Sir Alec [Guinness], Sir Tyrone [Guthrie] — had fallen for it. The clincher was my friend Michael Cashman [the actor with whom Sir Ian co-founded Stonewall], who said, ‘Oh, Ian, it’ll be so useful.’ And he was right, because being a knight opens doors.”
Sir Ian is currently on the promo trail for his new movie The Critic, during which he has spoken candidly with the press about his recovery after falling from a stage over the summer, which left him with several injuries.
“It’s emotionally that I’ve got some residue that I’ve got to deal with,” he shared during an interview on Radio 4 this week. “I think there’s something inside me that has to be calmed down. But I’m feeling fine.”
Read Sir Ian McKellen’s full interview in The Times here.