The 68-year-old had to wait till the very end of the ceremony at Covent Garden’s Royal Opera House to receive her award from the second in line to the throne.
William, who was introduced by the evening’s host, Stephen Fry as Prince will.i.am showed his lighter side while honouring the actress.
Prince William, Duke of Cambridge was accompanied by Amanda Berry OBE.
“The recipient of this year’s fellowship is an extremely talented actress who I should probably call granny,” quipped the young Prince, who was making reference Mirren’s 2006 BAFTA winning role in The Queen.
Mirren looked stunning as she walked on stage in a dazzling Jacques Azagury dress to collect her prize from the Prince. She began her speech by blowing a kiss to her husband of 16 years Taylor Hackford and had earlier admitted she was glad she knew she was getting the award ahead of time.
“It’s really nice to go to this sort of ceremony knowing you’ve won. None of those kind of nerves,” the thespian said. “Knowing that you’ve got to make a speech and I never imagined that I would, I always thought of myself as a bit of an outsider really, sort of the naughty girl.”
Mirren later said it was the first time she had met William and remarked that having the Monarch’s grandson present the award made it even more special.
“I think it feels pretty amazing actually, because I don’t think he’d do it if the royal family felt I had messed up,” she said. “So I hope it’s a sign they don’t think I messed up. But I don’t know, and I will never know for sure.”
Actor Jeremy Irons poses with actress Dame Helen Mirren after presenting her with her BAFTA Fellowship award in the winner’s room.
William’s co-host, veteran British actor Jeremy Irons, joined the Prince on stage and had some very kind words to add about his talented colleague.
“Helen Mirren has always been an actress impossible to ignore. Everything she did was always worthwhile, it was always serious, and because of her it was always intrinsically sexy.”
Prince William greets fans outside the event on the red carpet.
The actress joins legendary alumni as the Fellowship has previously been given to the likes of Alfred Hitchcock, Steven Spielberg, Richard Curtis and Michael Palin.
“This is the greatest professional honour I can imagine, certainly one I never dreamt of as a schoolgirl in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex,” she said during her acceptance speech. “To join that list of legendary names is overwhelming.”
