The 85-year-old actor — who said he believes the late monarch was “quite mad at the end” — claimed the Queen made “bloody rude” remarks to him when awarding him with a medal for acting in 2008.
Sir Ian McKellan is recalling his encounters with the late Queen Elizabeth II. And according to the legendary actor, the British monarch didn’t make the best first impression.
In a new interview with The Times, McKellan, 85, claimed that Queen Elizabeth II was “quite rude” to him during their multiple encounters, including when he was awarded a medal from the royal in 2008.
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“The Queen, I’m sure she was quite mad at the end,” the Lord of the Rings star said of the late queen, who died in 2022. “And on the few occasions I met her she was quite rude. When I received a medal for acting [the Companion of Honour in 2008], 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?'”
“That’s bloody rude when you’re giving someone a medal for acting. It meant, ‘Does anyone care a f–k about you because I don’t. Now off you go!”
The Times said McKellan wanted the journalist to understand Queen Elizabeth II’s handshake, with the outlet noting that the X-Men star recreated how the late monarch would apparently shake hands.
“I’ll be the Queen,” McKellan said, to which the reporter said he gave them his hand, which they tried to shake, but he “shoved [them] away with some force.”
“That was her handshake and it meant, ‘Go! Go!'” he added.
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Also during the interview, The Hobbit star gave his two cents on other members of the British royal family.
“I’m most definitely on Harry’s side,” McKellan said of Prince Harry, who is estranged from his father, King Charles III, and his brother Prince William.
“Imagine being born into the royal family. I’ve been in public life a bit, but these people are in prison. They can’t do anything normal,” he explained. “Can you imagine having to be nice to everyone you talk to?”
The Times noted that McKellan appeared concerned about how being a royal negatively impacts one’s mental health. (Something, of course, Harry and his wife Meghan Markle have openly discussed.)
“Hats off to anyone who manages to stay sane in that world,” McKellan said. “Like the [late] Duke of Edinburgh managed to do, although even he was deeply, deeply eccentric and I suspect deeply unhappy.”
“Same with the present king. He sort of survives, but he is clearly damaged,” he added. “As for Harry, he’s probably not bright enough or doesn’t have the right friends to really help himself. Mind you, he had the pick of all the pretty women in the world. I hope he’s got the right one.”
