Dame Helen Mirren has denied snubbing Britain's Queen Elizabeth. The Oscar winning actress - who played Her Majesty in "The Queen" - says she was forced to turn down a private dinner invitation from Buckingham Palace because of contractual work commitments.
Dame Helen - who was filming "The National Treasure: Book Of Secrets" in South Dakota - released a statement on Wednesday, saying: "I was honored to be invited to dinner at the palace.
"This was a gracious gesture and very appreciated by me. It was therefore hard to have to decline. I was contracted on that date to be working in South Dakota, in a situation which was impossible to change.
"I would have made every effort to attend if it had been humanly possible. I explained this to the palace officials, and I believe they understood. I would never have the hubris or the rudeness to insult anyone who had the kindness to invite me to dinner."
The 61-year-old was responding to reports the queen's aides viewed her decision not to attend as a snub, believing the actress would surely be given time off to dine with the monarch.
The film's publicist Michael Singer also made a statement on behalf of the production company.
He said: "'The National Treasure: Book Of Secrets" production company regrets that it was unable to release Ms. Mirren from her shooting schedule in order to accept the honor of dining with Queen Elizabeth last week.
"All attempts were made to accommodate Her Majesty's request but a very challenging and uncompromising production schedule in South Dakota, complicated further by poor weather conditions and locked-in locations, made this impossible.
"Ms. Mirren has only the greatest admiration and respect for the queen, and is truly sorry that prior commitments to the production prevented her from accepting the queen's kind and prestigious invitation."
The queen extended an invitation to Mirren after being impressed by her performance in "The Queen" - which focuses on how the royal family cope with the death of Princess Diana.
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