Speaking to The Times of London, the 85-year-old British actor described a previous encounter with the monarch.
“On the few occasions I met her she was quite rude,” the “Lord of the Rings” star said, adding that he thought she was “quite mad at the end.”
“When I received a medal for acting, she said, ‘You’ve been doing this for an awfully long time.’ I said, ‘Well, not as long as you,'” he continued. “I got a royal smile for that, but then she said, ‘Does anyone still actually go to the theatre?'”
“That’s bloody rude when you’re giving someone a medal for acting. It meant, ‘Does anyone care a f*** about you because I don’t. Now off you go!'” he added.
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The actor then demonstrated to his interviewer how the Queen, who died in 2022 at the age of 96, shook his hand by shoving him away.
“That was her handshake and it meant, ‘Go! Go!'” McKellen said.
McKellen was knighted for his services to the performing arts in 1991, and the Queen personally made him Companion of Honour (CH) for his services to drama and equality in 2008.
Reflecting on the knighthood, the two-time Oscar nominee said he would have turned down becoming a “Sir” if he had been “a man of adamant principle.”
He said he considered rejecting the knighthood at the time but that he was swayed to accept it after he spoke to his friend, the actor and Stonewall cofounder Michael Cashman, who told him how “useful” it would be.
“And he was right, because being a knight opens doors,” McKellen added.
During the same interview, the actor also expressed his support for Prince Harry amid the Duke of Sussex’s estrangement from his brother, Prince William, and father, King Charles III.
Tapping on a copy of the royal’s bombshell 2023 memoir “Spare,” which the actor had at his home, he said: “I’m most definitely on Harry’s side.”
“Imagine being born into the royal family. I’ve been in public life 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?” he went on.
However, despite voicing his support for the royal, who has given up his royal duties and moved to America with his wife Meghan Markle, McKellen said that he thought the Duke was “probably not bright enough” to have survived royal life.
“He’s probably not bright enough or doesn’t have the right friends to really help himself,” McKellen said, adding: “Hats off to anyone who manages to stay sane in that world.”
McKellen has been recovering after falling from the stage during a show in London’s West End in June.
He was starring as Falstaff in a version of Shakespeare’s Henry IV titled “Player Kings” when he seemed to lose his footing during a fight scene, per the BBC.
Following the incident, McKellen thanked fans for their support in a message on X, adding that he was “hugely indebted” to the medical staff who diagnosed and treated his injuries.
“They have assured me that my recovery will be complete and speedy and I am looking forward to returning to work,” he wrote.
