Julie Walters has revealed that she celebrated being made a dame in the best way – by weeding her garden! The actress, who was named Dame Commander of the British Empire by the Queen in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday, said that receiving the letter was "the most exciting bit". The Mamma Mia actress said: "I can't take that in. The most exciting time was when the letter came, I looked at it and thought 'what?' because it's that sort of very formal speak, 'what does this say?' then I saw dame and I thought 'bloody hell'. That was the most exciting bit. Somebody emailed me to say how did you celebrate? I weeded the garden."
I looked at it and thought 'what?' because it's that sort of very formal speak, 'what does this say?' Then I saw 'dame' and I thought 'bloody hell'. That was the most exciting bit. Somebody emailed me to say how did you celebrate? I weeded the garden."
READ: The Queen and Prince Philip: the youthful romance that became an enduring love match
© Photo: Getty ImagesJulie opened up about accepting her damehood
The Academy award nominee told Press Association: "It's fantastic, it's not really real. It was slightly nerve-wracking, 'when do I curtsey?' But everyone is the same. It's one of those things where you feel relieved (when you've done it), then you look back and think 'how fabulous'. I thought 'I wish my parents were here'. It was so numbing. The Queen said 'It's so marvellous that you've got this, I'm so pleased' and 'How long have you been doing acting?' I said '43 years' and she said 'In so many different things, well done.'"
First Ladies meeting royals: Melania Trump, Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton and more
© Photo: Getty ImagesJulie celebrated by weeding her garden
The star admitted that she had a take a day off from filming the sequel to Mamma Mia! to collect her damehood, saying: "I'm working at the moment, we're filming Mamma Mia! We were in Croatia but we are back at Shepperton now, a bit of a comedown after Croatia, so I'm not going to go back to work today... But we are going to have something to eat and that's it. They (the cast) all love it, they are all going mad. They were all joking about it, as you can imagine, there is lots of this (curtseying) going on."
