The sad news of the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the U.K’s longest reigning monarch and the second longest reigning in the world, was announced earlier today, and the outpouring of sympathy that followed saw messages flooding in from the public, world leaders, and celebrities. Among the first to share their thoughts wasDame Helen Mirren, who played Elizabeth inThe Queenin 2006, and won an Oscar for her performance.
The actress, who will soon be appearing in the superhero movieShazam! Fury of the Gods, provided a statement on the passing of the much-loved monarch, which was shared byDeadline. The simple statement said:
“I’m mourning along with the rest of my country, the passing of a great Queen. I’m proud to call myself of the Elizabethan age. If there was a definition of nobility, Elizabeth Windsor embodied it.”
The actress also joined many others in posting her thoughts on her Instagram page, saying, “I am proud to be an Elizabethan. We mourn a woman, who, with or without the crown, was the epitome of nobility.”
Mirren received numerous awards for playing Elizabeth in the Stephen Frears-directed biography of the British monarch, who served as queen since 1952 and became one of the longest-serving monarchs in history.
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Helen Mirren’s Portrayal of Queen Elizabeth is Still One of Her Best Performances
Helen Mirren has had an outstanding career, but one of the highlights was her performance as Queen Elizabeth II, a role that also earned her a BAFTA award. The actress also won a Tony and Laurence Olivier Award when she took on the role again inThe Audience,a play byThe Queenscribe Peter Morgan. Mirren reprised the role one more time in 2013 whenThe Audiencewas made into a feature film.
Ahead of taking on the role of one of the most iconic people in the world, Mirren previously spoke about how she prepared for the role, which would see her portraying Elizabeth through one of the most traumatic times in her long life; dealing with the aftermath of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. Before filming began on the movie, Mirren said that she wrote to the Queen, partly to express her growing respect for her following the research she completed for the role. She said:
“I realized that we were investigating a profoundly painful part of her life, so I wrote to her. How do you write to your queen? Was it, ‘Madam’ or ‘Your Highness’ or ‘Your Majesty’? I said, ‘We are doing this film. We are investigating a very difficult time in your life. I hope it’s not too awful for you.’ I can’t remember how I put it. I just said that in my research I found myself with a growing respect for her, and I just wanted to say that.”
Many other stars of stage and screen, music and sport shared messages on their social media. These included Sir Elton John, Kylie Minogue, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Mick Jagger, Andrew Lloyd Webber, George Takei and Ozzy Osbourne, showing the scope of grief being felt around the world for a woman who was often regarded as the “Nation’s Grandmother” in recent years. We join these in offering condolences to the Queen’s family and all those mourning the loss of a true inspiration and icon of a generation. you’re able to see some of the many messages below.
