# When will Helen Mirren become a dame? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 28, 2007, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-helen-mirren-become-a-dame/394043 "2007-02-28T17:21:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2007, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-helen-mirren-become-a-dame/394043/1 "2007-02-28T17:21:55Z")
Presumably now that’s Helen Miren has won an Oscar for portraying (and humanizing) QEII, the latter will show some appreciation for that – and for the other fine work she’s done – and give her an OBE. Whaddya think – this year? next year? ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2007, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-helen-mirren-become-a-dame/394043/2 "2007-02-28T17:32:02Z")
December 5, 2003. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2007, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-helen-mirren-become-a-dame/394043/3 "2007-02-28T17:35:51Z")
Oops. How come she’s never called “Dame Helen Mirren” then? It’s always “Dame Judi Dench.” ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2007, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-helen-mirren-become-a-dame/394043/4 "2007-02-28T17:49:57Z")
Given that her parents were rabidly antimonarchical, I suspect that she might still have some kind of residual distaste for the structure of royal honours. She’s pretty low-key, and may just not want to flaunt a title. But I think she’s due for an upgrade… not the Garter, surely, but something a bit more elevated than an OBE. [CNN.com](http://CNN.com) now reports that Mirren and _The Queen_’s director and screenwriter may be sipping tea with Her Majesty as early as next week. Her first question to them is sure to be, “What was the deal with that stag, anyway?” They ought to invite Tony Blair, too… ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2007, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-helen-mirren-become-a-dame/394043/5 "2007-02-28T18:12:45Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] But I think she’s due for an upgrade… not the Garter, surely, but something a bit more elevated than an OBE. [/QUOTE] She’s a Dame, the female equivalent of a knighthood. That’s a bit more elevated than an OBE. FWIW, over here she’s referred to as Dame Helen all the time. I don’t know her parents views on the monarchy but her grandfather was a Russian aristocrat who left after the Revolution. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2007, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-helen-mirren-become-a-dame/394043/6 "2007-02-28T19:07:17Z")
In several interviews I’ve seen or heard - including on NPR several months ago, and the Barbara Walters special just before the Oscar broadcast - Mirren said that her parents were very anti-monarchy, and thought the House of Windsor was a parasite on the British body politic, or words to that effect. Someone should film a scene of Queen Elizabeth II knighting Det. Chief Supt. Jane Tennison for service to the realm, standing before a painting of Queen Elizabeth I, while the famous actress Dame Helen Mirren looks on. Mirren could play all four - and has! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2007, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-helen-mirren-become-a-dame/394043/7 "2007-02-28T19:42:51Z")
But it will never be as satisfying to use her title and name when you bark your shin as it is with “Dame Judy Dench.” ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2007, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-helen-mirren-become-a-dame/394043/8 "2007-02-28T20:05:04Z")
There is nothing like a Dame. ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2007, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-helen-mirren-become-a-dame/394043/9 "2007-02-28T20:41:30Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] Someone should film a scene of Queen Elizabeth II knighting Det. Chief Supt. Jane Tennison for service to the realm, standing before a painting of Queen Elizabeth I, while the famous actress Dame Helen Mirren looks on. Mirren could play all four - and has! 😃 [/QUOTE] I don’t find her portrayal of Helen Mirren that convincing. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2007, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-helen-mirren-become-a-dame/394043/10 "2007-03-01T18:30:52Z")
Good point. Raul Julia did a much better Helen Mirren. ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2007, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-helen-mirren-become-a-dame/394043/11 "2007-03-02T05:05:31Z")
Well, she’s already a broad, so… ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2007, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-helen-mirren-become-a-dame/394043/12 "2007-03-02T05:15:52Z")
[QUOTE=Baldwin] There is nothing like a Dame. [/QUOTE] Darn you… ---
**Author:** ![singular1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@singular1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/singular1)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2007, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-helen-mirren-become-a-dame/394043/13 "2007-03-02T12:16:23Z")
Huh. I only saw clips from the Oscars, but I seem to remember her referred to as Dame Helen quite a few times. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2007, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-helen-mirren-become-a-dame/394043/14 "2007-03-02T13:52:30Z")
Okay, I’m an idiot. It was proven I was an idiot with the first response. Could we let this thread die now so I don’t have to be re-humiliated every time I see it? ---
**Author:** ![A.R.Cane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@A.R.Cane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.R.Cane)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2007, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-helen-mirren-become-a-dame/394043/15 "2007-03-02T14:08:58Z")
Google is your friend Twix. Don’t feel bad, I’ve spouted off before checking my facts too, kinda’ smarts though, don’t it. BTW, Mirren can eat crackers in my bed any time she wants to. She defintely does it for me. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2007, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-helen-mirren-become-a-dame/394043/16 "2007-03-02T17:58:34Z")
She ain’t just a Dame, she’s a _doozy_. Sailboat ---
**Author:** ![zagloba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/977dab/32.png) [@zagloba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zagloba)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2007, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-helen-mirren-become-a-dame/394043/17 "2007-03-02T18:50:27Z")
When she stars in a revival of _South Pacific_? [QUOTE=Baldwin] There is nothing like a Dame. [/QUOTE] Damn!