Renowned actor Sir Ian McKellen is often praised for his performances on screen, but recently, he has faced criticism for making “unreasonable” comments about the late Queen Elizabeth.

During a recent interview with The Times, McKellen offered up a less than flattering opinion of the Royal Family, holding little back when describing the late Queen as “quite rude”.

The Lord of the Rings star recalled the time when Queen Elizabeth appointed him Companion of Honour (CH) for his services to drama and to equality in a ceremony in 2008.

“The Queen, I’m sure she was quite mad at the end. And on the few occasions I met her she was quite rude,” he said.

“When I received a medal for acting (the Companion of Honour in 2008), she said, ‘You’ve been doing this for an awfully long time’.

“I said, ‘Well, not as long as you.’ I got a royal smile for that, but then she said, ‘Does anyone still actually go to the theatre?’.

“That’s bloody rude when you’re giving someone a medal for acting.

“It meant, ‘Does anyone care a f*** about you because I don’t. Now off you go!’”.

If that wasn’t enough, McKellen also offered his stance on Prince Harry’s feud with the Royal Family, telling the publication that he is “most definitely on Harry’s side”.

It’s fair to say that many were surprised by McKellen’s remarks, including royal commentator Richard Palmer who recently hit back at the actor for his comments, claiming that he can’t recall “coming across somebody who was willing to criticise the Queen such an open way”.

“He describes her as being rude and his main reason seems to be that she said to him ‘do people still go to the theatre’, and he’s taken offence of that,” Palmer explained to GB News.

“I suspect it’s just a way of getting conversation going and talking about how theatre is adapting, still attracting crowds in the West End.”