Judi Dench 'sat on Queen’s throne’ after Waltz with Ian McKellen

The beloved actress recently hit the headlines after she called on the Government to fulfil their election pledge to invest more money into dementia research. Dame Judi, who celebrates her 76th birthday tomorrow, is an icon of British films and has starred in countless, including James Bond Skyfall. But in unearthed accounts, a cheekier side to the celebrity was unveiled by Sir Ian, who has known the star for decades.

The actor, now 81, recalled one mischievous moment when the pair were invited to Buckingham Palace for “a very posh occasion”.

Sir Ian sat next to the Queen’s late sister Princess Margaret, who died in 2002, and recalled that at the end of the banquet they were “free to go around”.

In the background, he could hear “music playing” and decided he wanted to try to find out where it was coming from. 

He continued: “Perhaps there’s a dance going along! So Judi and I went along the corridor into what we both felt was a vaguely familiar room.

There was a little band playing, we had a little twirl around the room and there was nobody else there.”

Sir Ian, who took several swigs of red wine as he recounted the story, mimed the two of them dancing through the royal home.

They continued to let loose until the star suddenly remembered why the room was so familiar. 

He recalled: “I said, ‘I think this is the throne room, you know where you got made a Dame and I got made a Knight’.

“You know, the two thrones for the Queen and her Consort, I said, ‘Well, where are they?’ She said, ‘I don’t know, let’s have a look’.

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Sir Ian confessed: “It brings out the worst in you, Buckingham Palace.”

He went on to recount another amusing encounter, when they returned to perform as part of a concert. 

Sir Ian was allowed to use one of their guest rooms as a dressing room and when he looked out of the window, he noticed he was next to “thebalcony”.

Twiddling his fingers, as the recounted the tale, he said: “I thought, ‘I could just go out there and have a fag.’”

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