Dame Judi tells of admiration for ‘real goer’ Queen Victoria

DAME JUDI Dench has said she is “full of admiration” for Queen Victoria and her “interest” in men in her later years, adding: “She was a goer!”

The actress, who was born in York, will next be seen playing the late monarch on the big screen in her latest film Victoria And Abdul,

20 years after she portrayed her in John Madden’s film Mrs Brown.

Directed by Stephen Frears, Victoria and Abdul documents the close friendship that developed between Queen Victoria and Abdul Karim, a member of the Royal household.

Talking about accepting the role, she told the Graham Norton show last night: “Diaries and letters have recently come to light.

“Abdul came to the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee to present her with a coin.

“But, having seen him she wasn’t so interested in the coin!” Asked about Queen Victoria’s reported romantic interests in her later years following the death of Prince Albert, Dame Judi said: “She was a goer and I am full of admiration!” The 82-year-old star said of portraying Queen Victoria again: “You never think you’re going to go back to revisit a character you played so long ago, but because I didn’t know about the story, because it was so beautifully written and directed, and because it was a part I had done all the homework on, it was irresistible, I couldn’t have said no.”

Dame Judi was born in Heworth and she attended The Mount School, a Quaker independent secondary school in York, and became a Quaker.

She made her professional debut in 1957 with the Old Vic Company. Over the next two decades, Dench established herself as one of the most significant British theatre performers, working for the National Theatre Company and the Royal Shakespeare Company. She later appeared in films such as The Best Exotic Marigold Express, Philomena and Skyfall.

Hollywood actors Jamie Foxx, Steve Carell and Kristen Wiig were also guests on the BBC One talk show last night.

American rock band Haim performed their new single Want You

Back ahead of taking to the stage at Glastonbury music festival on Sunday.