Queen Elizabeth II hosted a galaxy of Hollywood stars, including former James Bond actor Roger Moore, at the Buckingham Palace where she also met Dame Helen Mirren who has played the British monarch on stage and screen.
The Queen is a patron of the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (Rada). Current Rada students joined actors, including Dame Helen, for a performance in the Palace Ballroom. The actor performed a speech from Shakespeare’s The Tempest , the BBC reported. The guest list included Steve McQueen, Moore, Dame Angela Lansbury, Joan Collins, Michael Sheen, John Hurt, Alan Rickman, Tom Stoppard, Alan Bennett, Ralph Fiennes, Michael Gambon, and Lenny Henry among others. Dame Helen was quoted as saying: “I am genuinely always astounded by her [the Queen’s] aura, her twinkle, her presence. It never fails to surprise me and again it’s what everyone says when they meet her — it was what overwhelmed me the first time I met her.”
