{"id":18724,"date":"2022-07-18T22:00:15","date_gmt":"2022-07-18T20:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1682702"},"modified":"2022-07-18T22:37:22","modified_gmt":"2022-07-18T20:37:22","slug":"helen-mirren-reveals-letter-she-wrote-to-the-queen-before-film-portrayal","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/helen-mirren-reveals-letter-she-wrote-to-the-queen-before-film-portrayal\/","title":{"rendered":"Helen Mirren reveals letter she wrote to the Queen before film portrayal"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>

By Lauren Morris\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Monday, 18 July 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

It\u2019s been 16 years since biographical drama The Queen arrived in theatres, subsequently earning Helen Mirren an Academy Award and a BAFTA for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II \u2013 however, the award-winning star has only just revealed that she wrote a letter to the Queen before playing her on screen in the film.<\/p>\n

In an interview with Radio Times magazine<\/a>, Mirren spoke about taking on the mammoth role and preparing for it by writing to the reigning monarch.<\/p>\n

\u201cI realised we were investigating a profoundly painful part of her life, so I wrote to her,\u201d Mirren explained.<\/p>

\u201cI said, \u2018We are doing this film. We are investigating a very difficult time in your life. I hope it\u2019s not too awful for you.\u2019 I can\u2019t 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

She continued: \u201cShe didn\u2019t write back, of course, but her secretary did. You know, \u2018Yours sincerely, da di da di da,\u2019 on behalf of the Queen. I was very relieved subsequently that I had written that letter.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"""\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n

The 2006 film, written by The Crown<\/a>\u2018s Peter Morgan, looks at the Royal Family\u2019s reaction to the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1997.<\/p>\n

Staged<\/a>\u2018s Michael Sheen and the late Helen McCrory<\/a> starred as Prime Minister Tony Blair and his wife Cherie Blair, while Succession<\/a>\u2018s James Cromwell played Prince Philip and Unforgotten<\/a>\u2018s Alex Jennings played Charles, Prince of Wales.<\/p>\n

Peter Morgan continued to write about The Queen and the Royal Family in Netflix\u2019s The Crown, which is heading into its fifth season with Imelda Staunton taking on the role of Queen Elizabeth II.<\/p>\n

\n

For more to watch, check out more of our\u00a0Drama<\/a>\u00a0coverage or visit our\u00a0TV Guide<\/a>\u00a0to see what\u2019s on tonight.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The latest issue of Radio Times magazine is on sale now \u2013\u00a0subscribe now<\/a>\u00a0and get the next 12 issues for only \u00a31. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to the\u00a0Radio Times podcast<\/a> with Jane Garvey.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/body><\/html>\n

","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Lauren Morris Published: Monday, 18 July 2022 at 12:00 am It\u2019s been 16 years since biographical drama The Queen arrived in theatres, subsequently earning Helen Mirren an Academy Award and a BAFTA for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II \u2013 however, the award-winning star has only just revealed that she wrote a letter to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":18725,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/07\/helen-mirren-reveals-letter-she-wrote-to-the-queen-before-film-portrayal.jpg",1180,788,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/07\/helen-mirren-reveals-letter-she-wrote-to-the-queen-before-film-portrayal-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/07\/helen-mirren-reveals-letter-she-wrote-to-the-queen-before-film-portrayal-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/07\/helen-mirren-reveals-letter-she-wrote-to-the-queen-before-film-portrayal-768x513.jpg",768,513,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/07\/helen-mirren-reveals-letter-she-wrote-to-the-queen-before-film-portrayal-1024x684.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/07\/helen-mirren-reveals-letter-she-wrote-to-the-queen-before-film-portrayal.jpg",1180,788,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/07\/helen-mirren-reveals-letter-she-wrote-to-the-queen-before-film-portrayal.jpg",1180,788,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Lauren Morris Published: Monday, 18 July 2022 at 12:00 am It\u2019s been 16 years since biographical drama The Queen arrived in theatres, subsequently earning Helen Mirren an Academy Award and a BAFTA for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II \u2013 however, the award-winning star has only just revealed that she wrote a letter to…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/18724"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}