Sir Ian McKellen has taken aim at the Royal Family claiming the late Queen Elizabeth II was ‘bloody rude’.
Despite meeting the Queen on numerous occasions and accepting various honours, Sir Ian, 85, recalled an awkward interaction with the monarch while also sharing his thoughts on Prince Harry’s rumoured feud with his family after stepping away from Royal duties.
‘The Queen, I’m sure she was quite mad at the end,’ he says. ‘And on the few occasions I met her she was quite rude.’
He said that while being awarded a Companion of Honour (CH) medal in 2007, the Queen told him: ‘You’ve been doing this a long time.’
He then said she asked: ‘Does anyone actually still go to the theatre?’, which Sir Ian said was ‘bl***y rude’ before giving him a handshake as a signal to ‘go away.’
‘It meant, “Does anyone care a f**k about you because I don’t. Now off you go!”‘ he told The Times.
The celebrated actor was named Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 1979 and received his Knighthood of the British Empire (KBE) for services to the performing arts in the Queen’s New Year Honours of 1991.
But that wasn’t all as he went on to make scathing comments about the Duke of Sussex as well as King Charles III.
‘Hats off to anyone who manages to stay sane in that world,’ he continued. ‘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.
Addressing Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle, he continued: ‘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.’
It comes as the Lord Of The King actor claims he has ‘no plans to retire’ despite taking the remainder of 2024 off to recover from a dramatic fall from a West End stage.
He hinted at a return to the popular fantasy franchise as his character Gandalf, telling BBC Breakfast: ‘I’m not letting anyone else put on the pointy hat and beard if I can help it.’
While performing Player Kings in London’s West End in June, the acting legend lost his footing and tumbled into the audience head-first.
He has since said his ‘fat suit’ saved him from worse injuries but was spotted wearing a neck brace — stylishly disguised with a scarf — in the months after.
Sir Ian has also been suffering from wrist problems ever since but reassured fans he was ‘on the mend’ despite the shock fall.
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