‘It was my proudest moment, there is nothing like a Dame!’
SMETHWICK superstar Julie Walters says that winning Baftas and being nominated for Oscars can’t compare to the honour of being made a dame.
The 67-year-old national treasure was named Dame Commander of the British Empire by the Queen in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday.
The honour came almost 35 years after her breakout role in Educating Rita, for which she was nominated for an Academy Award.
“It’s fantastic, it’s not really real,” she admitted. “It was slightly nerve-racking, you know, ‘When do I curtsey?’ But everyone is the same.
“It’s one of those things where you just feel relieved when you’ve done it, then you look back and think ‘How fabulous!’ “I thought ‘I wish my parents were here’. “The Queen said ‘It’s so marvellous that you’ve got this, I’m so pleased’ and ‘How long have you been doing acting?’
“I said ‘43 years’ and she said many different things, well done.”’
Asked if she thinks the Queen knows her movies, which include Billy Elliot, for which she was nominated for an Oscar, Mamma Mia!, Calendar Girls and seven of the eight Harry Potter films, Dame Julie admitted: “I shouldn’t think so, I have no idea and no way of knowing. “Charles might, though.” She added that she had been given special dispensation for a day off from shooting the Mamma Mia! sequel, which also stars Meryl Streep, Colin Firth, Cher and Amanda Seyfried, to go to the Palace. ‘In so