Sir Ian McKellen described the late Queen Elizabeth II as “quite rude” and said the British royal family “couldn’t do anything normal”. In a recent interview, he said he was on Prince Harry’s side in his dispute with the crown.
In a long interview with The times McKellen said that every time he met the late queen, she shook his hand as if she were pushing him away. “It meant, ‘Go! Go!'” McKellen said.
“I’m sure the Queen was pretty angry at the end,” he said. “And on the few occasions I met her she was pretty rude. When I received a medal for acting (the Companion of Honour in 2008) she said, ‘You’ve been doing this an awful long time.’ I said, ‘Well, not as long as you.’ I got a regal smile for that, but then she said, ‘Does anyone go to the theatre anymore?'”
He continued: “That’s a damn rude thing to give someone a medal for their acting performance. It meant, ‘Does anyone care about you, because I don’t. Now go away!'”
McKellen spent much of the summer recovering from a fall from the stage during a play in London’s West End, which left him with a broken wrist and vertebra. During his recovery, he read a number of books, including Prince Harry’s memoirs. Spare part– a devastating revelation from the royal family. “I’m clearly on Harry’s side,” McKellen said.
“Imagine being born into the royal family,” he said. “I’ve been in public life for a bit, but these people are in prison. They can’t do anything normal. Can you imagine having to be nice to everyone you talk to?”
Harry stepped down from his role as a working royal in 2020, less than two years after his wedding to Meghan Markle, whom he accused of mistreating his family. McKellen said Harry was “probably not smart enough or didn’t have the right friends to really help himself.”
“He had his choice of all the beautiful women in the world. I hope he chose the right one,” McKellen said.
McKellen continued his thoughts on the royal family, theorizing that the late Prince Philip was “deeply eccentric and, I suspect, deeply unhappy.” “The same is true of the current king (King Charles). He’s surviving somehow, but he’s clearly damaged,” McKellen said.
“Hats off to anyone who manages to stay sane in this world,” he said.
