Britain's Queen Elizabeth today celebrates a significant milestone after she overtook Queen Victoria to become the country's longest serving monarch. During her 63 years and seven months on the throne plenty of well known actresses have portrayed female British Monarchs with varying degrees of success.
Here's our top TEN box office queens.
1. Helen Mirren- The Queen (2006)
Dame Helen created what is probably the definitive portrayal of Her Maj in Stephen Fears 2006 film which examined the public fallout against the British monarchy following the death of Princess Diana. Mirren's understated but assured performance bagged her an Oscar and it was reported that 'one' herself was even impressed by her performance. She got to play Queen Elizabeth a second time when she took the lead role in Peter Morgan's play, The Audience, which centred on the weekly meetings between the Queen and her Prime Ministers and snagged herself a few more awards in the process.
2. Kate Blanchett - Elizabeth & Elizabeth: The Golden Age (1998/2007)
Although still then a relatively unknown actress when she was cast in the lead role in Elizabeth, her subsequent Oscar nomination for her portrayal of 'the virgin queen' helped to catapult her towards stardom and becoming something of acting royalty herself. She reprised her role in the 2007 follow up Elizabeth: The Golden Age and promptly became the first actress ever to be nominated twice for playing the same role in two films.
3. Judi Dench - Shakespeare in Love & Mrs Brown (1998/1997)
After she won the Oscar for playing Queen Elizabeth in Shakespeare in Love the joke at the time was that her acceptance speech was longer than her actual screen time. She appeared for roughly about eight minutes in the movie though it wasn't the shortest time on screen for an Oscar win (Beatrice Straight got her gong for just six minutes work in 1976 's Network). A year earlier she won a BAFTA for playing the role of a bereaved Queen Victoria in Mrs Brown who embarked on a scandalous relationship with a Scottish servant, John Brown, played by Billy Connolly.
4. Emily Blunt - Young Victoria (2009)
From an older Queen Victoria to a portrayal of her younger self in this 2009 film which starred Emily Blunt in the leading role. Based based on the early life and reign of Victoria and her marriage to Prince Albert, it was written by Downtown Abbey's Julian Fellowes and won an Oscar for Best Costume Design.
5. Miranda Richardson - Blackadder II (1986)
This is definitely the most fun portrayal of Queen Elizabeth I ever. Richardson's spoilt, petulant Queenie was prone to utter such delightfully spiteful lines as “First I’m going to have a little drinky, and then I’m going to execute the whole bally lot of you!”
6. Vanessa Redgrave - Anonymous & Mary Queen of Scots (2011/1972)
More acting royalty here. Redgrave, a doyene of British stage and film, starred as Queen Elizabeth in the 2011 film Anonymous which examined the theory that Shakespeare was a fraud whose plays were in fact the work of the Earl of Oxford. If you haven't heard of it, don't worry. The film was a spectacular flop despite being directed by Roland Emmerich the man behind such mega hits as Godzilla and Independence Day. Redgrave's previous royal outing in 1972's Mary Queen of Scots was better received and she received an Best Actress Oscar nomination for her portrayal of the Catholic Queen who has to deal with the ambitions of her half brother James Stewart.
7. Helena Bonham Carter - The King's Speech (2010)
Considering that she's hardly every out of a corset in most of acting roles it's no surprise that Helena Bonham Carter finally got to play royalty in this big Oscar winning hit from 2010. She won huge praise for her sprightly portrayal of Queen Elizabeth Queen Mother, who persuades the reluctant King (Colin Firth) to see a speech therapist to deal with his stutter.
8. Sarah Gadon - A Royal Night Out (2015)
The Canadian actress played Princess Elizabeth in this comedy-drama which was released earlier this year. The young princess along with her sister Margaret venture out of Buckingham Palace to enjoy the VE Day celebrations and get to experience a night on the town as commoners and dabble in a bit of romance.
9. Quentin Crisp - Orlando (1992)
Well it often takes a queen to play one. Gay icon Quentin Crisp camped it up royally (in every sense) when he played Queen Elizabeth I in this 1992 gender bending film based on the Virginia Wolf novel.
10. Andrea Riseborough - WE (2011)
Proving once again that she is box-office poison, Madonna's directorial debut examined the fateful relationship between King Edward VIII and divorcé Wallis Simpson, played by Andrea Riseborough. The film tanked at the box office on the back of some very unfavourable reviews. Before Princess Diana, Wallis was perhaps the biggest bete-noir of the British Royal family after her relationship with Edward ultimately led to his abdication though Madge's film did go some way to portray her in a more favourable light.
