Sir Ian McKellen takes aim at the Royal Family, including the ‘not so bright’ Prince Harry and the ‘deeply unhappy’ King Charles… but saves his sharpest attack for the Queen
“I am absolutely on Prince Harry’s side,” Sir Ian McKellen said this week.
It’s not the kind of commentary you might expect from the legendary actor, who controversially accepted and was knighted by the late Queen Elizabeth II in 1991.
But his fierce opinions about the royals don’t stop there. After his fall from the stage in London a few weeks ago, Sir Ian has undoubtedly had time to reflect on matters while recovering at his London home.
In an interview with Michael Odell of the TimesHe called Harry “not smart enough” to handle royal life, the late Queen “rude” and “completely mad” in her final years, and King Charles “damaged”.
Since Prince Harry moved to the US with his wife Meghan Markle, where they live in Montecito with their two children Archie and Lilibet, 85-year-old Sir Ian appears to have been reflecting on his life in the spotlight.
Actor Sir Ian McKellen receives the Companion of Honour Medal for services to Drama and Equality from Queen Elizabeth II in 2008
Sir Ian added that Prince Philip appeared ‘deeply unhappy’ and that Charles III seemed ‘clearly damaged’ by life in the royal family
Sir Ian said he is ‘on Prince Harry’s side’ and compared royal life for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to being in ‘a prison’
Although he still has some privacy at home, he compared life within the royal family to life in prison.
The Duke of Sussex is ‘probably not smart enough’ to help himself and have lived his entire life as a working royal, Sir Ian has claimed.
He added that Prince Philip appeared “deeply unhappy” and that Charles III seemed “clearly damaged” by his life within the royal family.
But it is the late queen who the Lord of the Rings star has met in person several times.
He said that when he was awarded the Companion of Honour Medal in 2008, the Queen said to him: ‘You’ve been doing this for a long time.’
She is then said to have added: “Does anyone actually go to the theatre anymore?” – a statement Sir Ian called “bloody rude”.
He added that her handshake was the signal to “go away.”
“Hats off to anyone who manages to stay sane in that world,” Sir Ian concluded.
Sir Ian said the Queen was “bloody rude” when she asked him in 2008 if “anyone else goes to the theatre”
The current King Charles and Ian McKellen attend the Prince’s Foundation for Children and the Arts gala dinner in 2008
The actor said Charles (pictured with his wife Queen Camilla) has been “clearly damaged” by life in the institution
The actor said Prince Philip seemed “deeply unhappy” with life in the royal family
Sir Ian said Harry didn’t have the right friends around him to survive as a working royal
The Royal Family has been struggling with turmoil in recent years. The recent health crises surrounding Kate and Charles’ cancer diagnoses earlier this year have prevented key members of the Royal Family from performing.
In 2020, the Sussexes moved to California, marking the beginning of a long-running feud between Harry and the rest of his family, particularly his brother Prince William.
A Netflix series and the controversial memoir Spare, of which Sir Ian owns a copy, added to the tension after the prince made serious allegations against his brother, including that he had once physically assaulted him.
Harry has returned to the UK several times since his retirement as a working royal, including to visit his father following his diagnosis, but he has not seen his brother since 2022.
Sir Ian had little say over the Prince and Princess of Wales, although he sided with the Sussexes and perhaps that was for the best.
He made the comments after he tripped and fell off stage during a performance of Robert Icke’s Player Kings at the Noel Coward Theatre on June 17.
He suffered a broken vertebra and a broken wrist when he fell from the stage onto a member of the audience, and both were taken to hospital.
Sir Ian had little to say about the Prince and Princess of Wales, although he sides with the Sussexes, which was perhaps for the best.
The actor, 85, was playing John Falstaff in the production at the Noel Coward Theatre in London’s West End on June 17 when he lost his balance in a fight scene and fell from the stage into the audience
In July, Sir Ian shared a health update with his legions of fans via X, formerly Twitter
Speaking at the premiere of his latest work, Sir Ian spoke of how he felt “guilty” at having to cancel the remaining shows.
“I felt ashamed, I felt like I had let the public down and I felt guilty,” the star told Sky News.
Sir Ian told how he prepared himself for death as he fell through the air, before bursting into tears when he realised he couldn’t finish his performance.
After the fall he told Saga Magazine: ‘My broken vertebra and broken wrist have not healed yet.
‘I don’t go outside because I’m afraid someone will bump into me. Also, I have terrible pain in my shoulders because my whole body has been shaken.
“But I wore a fat suit for Falstaff and that saved my ribs and other joints. So I was really lucky.”
He added: ‘I’ve relived that fall I don’t know how many times. It was horrible.’
But his acting career seems far from over: his latest product, the film The Critic, will be released next week.
Sir Ian plays English theatre critic Jimmy Erskine, who is gay. The film is set in the 1930s, when homosexuality was still a crime.
The actor, who also played Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings series, came out as gay in 1988 after being angered by Margaret Thatcher’s anti-gay laws, including Section 28.
