Helen Mirren endeared herself to fans even more recently by showing that she's not too grand to take public transport. Dame Helen, who has played the Queen on two occasions, was seen on the New York subway. Her journey was captured by a fellow passenger who shared his photo on instagram. He wrote: "Well, that just happened. Dame Helen Mirren sitting across from me on the R train."
The Queen actress Helen Mirren joined commuters on the New York underground
In the image, the grand dame of acting is seen elegantly dressed in faux fur trimmed coat and long purple gloves, with her bag on her lap. She followed the example of Tom Hanks, Katie Holmes, Sarah Jessica Parker and Naomi Watts, who have also been seen on the Big Apple underground system. However, the 69-year-old Brit won plaudits from New Yorkers for observing correct subway etiquette, by not taking up too much space. In the past the actress has shown how down-to-earth she is by taking off her high heels at red carpet events, and admitting that her silvery shoes wouldn't look out of place in a strip club. On another memorable occasion, Helen turned up to a gala with her hair dyed pink. When the screen veteran was honoured with Harvard University's Hasty Pudding Theatricals Woman Of The Year award she delighted the audience by jokingly attempting to twerk.
Dame Helen Mirren was spotted eating chips in the audience of the Golden Globes earlier this year
Helen also admitted that she gets 'queen-itis' when she meets the monarch. "Almost everyone gets it," she said in a TV interview. "You get this thing I call 'queen-itis,' which is like a terrible virus that suddenly hits you the minute you're in front of the Queen. "You start saying weird things like, 'Oh, it's terribly good fun, wasn't it?' and 'Frightfully nice to meet you, ma'am.' This weird voice comes out. She's so used to it."