Helen Mirren was invited to have dinner with The Queen at the palace, but Mirren was unfortunately unable to make it due to filming arrangements. Palace officials are said to be unhappy by the apparent “snub” and said that they wouldn’t be able to arrange another date for Mirren to attend.

It sounds like sour grapes from palace officials. I’m pretty sure Mirren didn’t intend to offend anyone, especially as she gave such a gushing speech dedicated to the Queen when she won her Oscar.

The Daily Mail reports:

The actress, who won an Oscar for her portrayal of the Monarch in the film The Queen, said she was ‘too busy’ to attend.

Her rejection of the offer is being seen by senior Palace officials as a snub.

Furious Royal aides say Dame Helen, 61, is unlikely to be offered an alternative date and indicated she will not be invited again.

A senior Palace official said: “It is unheard of for Her Majesty to extend a personal invitation to dinner to someone who has portrayed her in a film. We did not expect to be told that the date is unacceptable.

“The Queen has an extremely busy schedule. Her diary is mapped out a year in advance and for her to make time for a private dinner shows how much she wanted to meet Miss Mirren. It remains to be seen if another date can be fixed.”

Another aide said: “It is rare for the Queen to ask an actress or actor to a private dinner. The gesture showed how much she appreciated the comments made by Miss Mirren in accepting the awards for the film.

“While there is an understanding about commitments, this was not a run-of-the-mill dinner invitation.”

Dame Helen, who is filming in America, said: “The Palace very kindly extended an invitation to dinner last Tuesday, May 1.

“But, unfortunately, I was filming in South Dakota and unable to change my schedule. I am very sad not to have been able to attend.”

The Palace staff are taking things way out of proportion in my opinion. Yes, the Queen has a busy schedule, but if Mirren feels she had to do work for her role, then so be it and they should respect that. They shouldn’t make her feel horrible just because she has to go to work!

I’m sure this stuff is all just coming from palace courtiers and that the Queen is hardly bothered whether Mirren shows up or not. It all just sounds like a storm in a teacup to me.

Picture of Queen Elizabeth from Gino Galea.com