British acting legend, Michael Caine has defended Queen Elizabeth II and the British monarchy after fellow actor Sir Ian Mckellan accused her of being “rude.”
McKellen, 85, who was knighted for services to the performing arts in 1991 told The Times that Queen was “quite mad” and said on few times he met her, she was “quite rude” to the Lord of the Rings star.
However, Sir Michael defended the Queen his new autobiography Don’t Look Back, You’ll Trip Over: My Guide to Life, where he reflected on the late Monarch’s legacy.
“She had such an extraordinary reign,” he wrote with co-author Matthew D’Ancona.
“The outpouring of love and respect when she died was amazing, you could see that she had represented something very special to people.”
The Interstellar star also thought the monarchy was in safe hands and praised current King Charles III, saying, “I think Charles is turning out to be a great King, too.”
He added that the British Monarchy was vital to public life and argued that it helped safeguard democracy in the UK.
“The monarchy isn’t anti-democratic, it’s one of the ways our democracy has lasted,” he explained.
He then added that the institution was “heart of everything.”
“We’d be mad to chuck that away,” he wrote.
“I don’t think we will, either.”
This is not the first time Caine has put his thoughts on paper as the renowned actor released his first novel last year.
The novel, called Deadly Game, tells the story of police detective Harry Taylor who discovers a high-level criminal enterprise and is drawn into a race against time to solve the mystery of a nuclear package that has fallen into the wrong hands.
Caine has reportedly long had the desire to write a thriller but only found the time to put pen to paper when the Covid lockdowns forced people across the globe indoors.
Caine spoke with The Times about always wanting to write a thriller novel, given it’s a genre he loves to read himself.
“It’s been my ambition for years to write a thriller,” he told the publication.
“It’s the genre I most love to read, and I’ve really got a buzz out of working on Deadly Game and teaming up with Hodder once again to publish it.
“I hope readers enjoy getting to know Harry Taylor as much as I did.”