Topic: Helen Mirren Pretended To Be The Queen While Having Tea With A Sick Child

[RickZ]

This is a heart-warming story, not some actress being a jerk.

http://filmdrunk.uproxx.com/2013/05/helen-mirren-pretended-to-be-queen-having-tea-sick-child

Helen Mirren Pretended To Be The Queen While Having Tea With A Sick Child



Ten-year Oliver Burton’s story is heartbreaking. Without getting into all of the details, the young boy has Down’s syndrome and has battled a variety of other cancers, leading up to a recent diagnosis of terminal spine and bone marrow cancer. Throughout all of it, though, his family has tried to make Oliver as happy as possible, so when Queen Elizabeth II couldn’t or wouldn’t fulfill his dream of having tea with her at Buckingham Palace, they got him the next best thing.

Actually, in my opinion, it’s the better thing, but they took Oliver to the Gielgud Theatre to watch Dame Helen Mirren perform as the Queen in The Audience. And after the play, Mirren remained in character as she welcomed Oliver backstage to join her for tea, as the other cast members participated in costume. They even let Oliver meet the corgis.

His father James Browne said: ‘She stayed in character for the whole thing. Oliver thought she was the real Queen, and well, that’s good enough for us.

‘She was really lovely. She did the whole thing – had a butler there, was dressed in costume and did it all properly for him.

She sat in Oliver’s wheelchair and gave him her big chair. She had a glass of coke together and biscuits and little sandwiches and they even brought in her corgis from the show, Coco and Roco.

‘She was wonderful and in some of the photos you do a double take because she really does look like the real Queen.

‘She knighted him and told everyone that they had to call him Sir Oliver. He had a brilliant day.

He took his British flag and got her to sign it and just waved and waved it all day.’ (Via the Daily Mail)

If anyone had a negative opinion of Mirren before this – and she was in RED, so I don’t see how that’s possible – this should take care of that and then some.

Classy thing to do.  Always liked Mirren (Prime Suspect, The Madness of King George).

[IronDioPriest]

In a world where so much selfishness, cowardice, cruelty, depravity, and downright evil seem to relentlessly pummel all five senses as well as the heart and mind, examples like this serve to remind me that generosity, courage, kindness, morality, and goodness are equally human characteristics.

I spend so much time and thought on decrying the evil of human kind. Let me take this moment to remind myself that there is also great good and beauty in humanity as well. The greatest beauty that exists in the earthly realm is in the goodness of our fellow humans.

  <-Thanks

[AlanS]

In a world where so much selfishness, cowardice, cruelty, depravity, and downright evil seem to relentlessly pummel all five senses as well as the heart and mind, examples like this serve to remind me that generosity, courage, kindness, morality, and goodness are equally human characteristics.

I spend so much time and thought on decrying the evil of human kind. Let me take this moment to remind myself that there is also great good and beauty in humanity as well. The greatest beauty that exists in the earthly realm is in the goodness of our fellow humans.

  <-Thanks

I'm reminded everyday of actual humanity in existence.

My hat goes off to MS. Mirren while our hearts and prayers go out to young Master Burton.

[trapeze]

I beat you to this story by about three and a half hours, rick. I posted it in the movie thread because I combined it with the second trailer for RED2 and that's probably why you didn't notice it.