Chinese Studies - Mirren snubs dinner invite from the Queen

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Mirren snubs dinner invite from the Queen

(Daily Mail)
Updated: 2007-05-07 09:59





A senior Palace official said: "It is unheard of for Her Majesty to
extend a personal invitation to dinner to someone who has portrayed her
in a film. We did not expect to be told that the date is unacceptable.
[Daily Mail]


Helen Mirren has astonished the Queen and her closest advisers by turning
down a personal invitation to dinner at Buckingham Palace.

The actress, who won an Oscar for her portrayal of the Monarch in the
film The Queen, said she was 'too busy' to attend.

Her rejection of the offer is being seen by senior Palace officials as a
snub.

Furious Royal aides say Dame Helen, 61, is unlikely to be offered an
alternative date and indicated she will not be invited again.

"The Queen has an extremely busy schedule. Her diary is mapped out a year
in advance and for her to make time for a private dinner shows how much
she wanted to meet Miss Mirren. It remains to be seen if another date can
be fixed."

Another aide said: "It is rare for the Queen to ask an actress or actor
to a private dinner. The gesture showed how much she appreciated the
comments made by Miss Mirren in accepting the awards for the film.

"While there is an understanding about commitments, this was not a
run-of-the-mill dinner invitation."

Dame Helen, who is filming in America, said: "The Palace very kindly
extended an invitation to dinner last Tuesday, May 1.

"But, unfortunately, I was filming in South Dakota and unable to change
my schedule. I am very sad not to have been able to attend."

The Queen's private secretary, Sir Robin Janvrin, contacted Dame Helen
after she was named Best Actress at the Oscars in February.

Courtiers were pleased by her acceptance speech to a TV audience of more
than one billion.

She praised the Queen for maintaining 'her dignity, her sense of duty and
her hairstyle' for more than 50 years.

Dame Helen added: "She's had her feet planted firmly on the ground, her
hat on her head, her handbag on her arm and she's weathered many, many
storms.

"If it wasn't for her, I most certainly wouldn't be here. Ladies and
gentlemen, I give you the Queen."

Dame Helen's portrayal of the Queen was seen by many senior Royal aides
as sympathetic and accurate.

The invitation to Dame Helen and her film director husband Taylor
Hackford was for the night before the Queen flew to America for the start
of her current tour.

But the actress said she would be filming.

Her reply is thought to have included an apology for turning down the
invitation.

Since mid-April, Dame Helen has been filming National Treasure: Book Of
Secrets in the Black Hills of South Dakota with Nicolas Cage and Jon
Voight.

She would have needed permission from the producers to leave the set
because her absence could have held up filming.

But given the nature of the invitation, it is unlikely the producers
would have stood in her way.

Dame Helen's spokesman insisted last night that her rejection of the
Queen's invitation was not intended as a snub.

A Palace spokesman said: "We never comment on private matters concerning
the Queen."












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