Helen Mirren may have played royalty on screen, but real-life royal etiquette once left her completely stumped. The actress recalled having tea with Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip during Royal Ascot in 2018.
A surprisingly simple problem threw Mirren off. She wanted milk in her tea, but the jug was sitting on the other side of Philip. Rather than risk addressing him incorrectly, she decided to drink it without milk.
Helen Mirren was too nervous about royal etiquette to ask Prince Philip for milk
Mirren recalled the awkward moment during a recent TODAY interview. Someone had poured her another cup of tea, but she quickly realized the milk was on Philip’s side of the table, OK! Magazine reported.
That left Mirren facing an unexpected etiquette problem.
“I just could not remember how to address Prince Philip,” she admitted.
Mirren wondered whether she should call him “sir,” “Your Majesty” or “Your Royal Highness.” She even considered asking a staff member for help.
Instead, she abandoned the idea entirely.
“In the end, I just gave up and had it without milk because I couldn’t deal with the situation,” Mirren said.
The story is especially amusing given Mirren’s connection to the monarchy. She won an Academy Award for portraying Queen Elizabeth in the 2006 movie The Queen.
Her royal role also came up during the same Ascot gathering. Mirren recalled that Elizabeth introduced her to a sheikh as the actress who had played her on screen.
The sheikh apparently had no idea what the monarch meant and looked confused, the Daily Mail reported.
Mirren’s portrayal of Queen Elizabeth remains one of the most recognizable roles of her career. Her latest transformation looks very different, though. She recently ditched her glamorous image to play Patricia Highsmith in A Talent for Murder.
Tea with Elizabeth and Philip also holds special memories for their family. Prince William has recalled spending quiet afternoons having tea and cake with his grandparents at Windsor Castle.
Mirren’s own royal tea experience was far more stressful. Even after convincingly playing the Queen on screen, asking Prince Philip to pass the milk proved to be one royal moment she could not quite handle.
