Whether or not you like Ellen DeGeneres, you have to admit she is responsible for some memorable interviews. Ellen had the wonderful Dame Helen Mirren as a guest on her show on Thursday and struck comedy gold.

Helen, promoting her latest film The Leisure Seeker, told Ellen that she was not attending the upcoming royal wedding, because she “doesn’t know” the royal family “exactly”. When asked if she was planning to reprise her role as Queen Elizabeth on the TV series The Crown (a show of which Helen is a big fan, calling star Claire Foy “brilliant”), she said “It’s wonderful that I did it. It was wonderful that it was a success, but I didn’t want the headline when I’m knocked over by a bus [to read] ‘the Queen, knocked over by bus.’ I wanted to get away from that… I like to move forward, not back.”

When Ellen remarked that she admired the fact that Helen was upfront about her age, the discussion got comical. Ellen noted that she looked fabulous for 72, and Helen insisted she was 73. She said that she and her husband, director Taylor Hackford, who is six months younger, always seemed to forget how old they really are. When Ellen (and her producer) told her she was, indeed, 72, she exclaimed, “This is fantastic. This is amazing. I’ve just made a whole year. Wow.” Ellen then jokingly quipped, “I was going to say you look great, but you’re losing it.”

Other revelations from the interview include Helen admitting she’s a fan of Stranger Things and Silicon Valley and “hates” the Real Housewife shows (add that to the multitude of reasons I love Helen). She also said she was really happy she was able to witness GPS. She said, “I love old-fashioned maps. I’m a very good navigator, I know how to do that, but GPS is the most magical, unbelievable thing.” She confessed “I even do it when I’m walking down the street and I know exactly where I am.” Helen is impressed with technology and fondly recalled the first time she saw a self-checkout kiosk at a store, marveling, “the machine knows, how did that happen?” This led to a quick discussion about baked beans. Dame Helen enjoys Marmite and baked beans, but don’t go bringing her a can of Bush’s, because she feels that “American baked beans are kind of a bit disgusting.” I love this woman. Do yourself a favor and watch the whole interview.

After watching the interview, I’m looking forward to seeing The Leisure Seeker. In the movie, which doesn’t arrive in theaters until March 9, Helen and Donald Sutherland play a couple suffering from ailments – she has cancer, he has dementia, who head out on a road trip to Ernest Hemingway’s home in Key West in their RV, dubbed The Leisure Seeker. Helen told Parade that, while she’s not taken an RV trip with hubby Taylor, the two once drove across the south, with Helen noting, “We did little bed and breakfasts on the way, the Southern buffets—all you can eat for $6.99.” This coming from a woman who said that if she had to plan a last meal, it would be a grilled cheese sandwich. Can Helen adopt me?

Photos: WENN.com