ACTUALLY A DAME

Emma’s cheeky request

Emma’s cheeky request

SENSIBILITIES ARE ALMOST LOST AS THE STAR RECEIVES HER HONOUR

As if we needed more of a reason to fall for Emma Thompson, it was a true case of Love Actually watching the actress receive her damehood last week – wearing white sneakers, no less!

Emma also revealed that she tried to sneak in a smooch when the Duke of Cambridge presented the honour to her at Buckingham Palace.

“I love Prince William; I’ve known him since he was little, and we just sniggered at each other,” the new dame confesses. “I said, ‘I can’t kiss you, can I?’ And he said, ‘No, don’t!’”

“If you’re first up, you have to be more formal on such an occasion, but he’s looking wonderful and doing so well,” she adds. “He said, ‘This day isn’t about me, it’s about you.’” Along with her comfy sneakers, the long-standing friend of the royals also wore a navy-coloured Stella McCartney suit, decorated with a badge supporting equal pay, to the ceremony.

“It’s really lovely because

I’ve always loved the boys and I’ve always been a long-term correspondent with their dad.

“It’s a very lovely feeling,” she says of receiving her damehood for services to drama over a lengthy career, which includes memorable performances in Henry V, Howard’s End and Nanny McPhee.

Of her award, the 59-yearold says, “I’m very outspoken, politically; I’m a card-carrying feminist, human rights advocate, so good for them, because the establishment needs more people who can speak up for those things.”

The actress is as in-demand as ever. She is currently filming How to Build a Girl, in which she’ll play a music magazine editor who employs a rock music critic called ‘Dolly Wilde’. The film is adapted from a book written by Caitlin Moran.