In an Australian exclusive, Dame Judi Dench talks about playing the formidable Queen Victoria in the sweet true story of Victoria & Abdul. You can watch the fascinating featurette above – we’re sure you’ll agree she absolutely shines in this role.
Judi, 82, also opened up about her new romance in an extraordinary exclusive interview with The Australian Women’s Weekly.
She fell in love as a young woman with fellow actor Michael Williams, who was in the Royal Shakespeare Company with her. Australia holds a special place in her heart because it was in Adelaide that Michael proposed while Judi was touring The Winter’s Tale.
“I told him to ask me again because it was so gorgeous in the Australian sunshine with the sea glistening and the white sands,” she muses.
“I said he would have to ask me on a rainy day in Battersea. But I then forgot about that and said ‘Yes!’ the following day. So Australia was the beginning of us officially and a very beautiful beginning.”
Sadly, Michael passed away from lung cancer in 2001, just three weeks before their 30th wedding anniversary. Dame Judi was devastated.
After Michael’s death, Dame Judi threw herself into her work, something that helped with her grieving. A new relationship hadn’t been in her plans, but she bonded with her new partner, conservationist David Mills over their shared love of animals.
In the October issue of The Weekly, on sale now, she reveals how she ‘very unexpectedly’ found love again with David, in what she calls her ‘loveliest chapter’.
Victoria & Abdul hits theatres 14 September 2017.
