Helen Mirren reveals her "stumbling, nauseating" speech in Queen's presence

London, Sept 7 : English actress Dame Helen Mirren has admitted that she was left quivering in her shoes when she had to stand before the Queen at the Royal Ascot.

Even though Mirren has won awards for her hauntingly realistic portrayal of the Queen, she was left cringing in embarrassment when it came to giving a speech in front of Her Majesty because she delivered a "stumbling, nauseating" speech at the annual society event.

"It was a strange experience because the Queen invited me there and I ended up sitting between Sheikh [Mohammed] of Dubai and the Duke of Edinburgh," the Daily Express quoted the 63-year-old as saying.

"The Queen invited us all outside to watch the racing. I think it was just a gesture to say, 'It's OK. We're cool about the film (The Queen)'.

"As I left I stood up and made this stumbling, nauseating little speech about what an honour it had all been and I went on and on and made a complete and utter ****ing pleb of myself.

"But she took it on board very graciously and then off I went - to have a large glass of wine and recover," added Mirren gratefully.

The actress had previously turned down an invitation to dinner at Buckingham Palace because she was away filming.

ANI