Stars are known for pushing the boat out from time to time but when Judi Dench had a go on Wednesday it ended up with some pretty spectacular results. The 67-year-old actress was left soaked by a rogue bottle of bubbly as she named a new £250-million cruise liner.
Watched by Captain Claudio Cupisci, Dame Judi made two attempts to smash the champagne bottle in the traditional manner – by swinging it on a rope against the hull of the 88,500-ton Carnival Legend – but all that happened was a resounding clunk. “Because it takes so long to set the whole thing up again we then asked her if she wouldn’t mind doing it by hand,” said David Ezra, spokesman for the liner. “This she did rather too effectively.”
What the actress hadn’t counted on was the champagne foaming all over her face and soaking her cream outfit. “It was a tense moment,” said an onlooker, “but luckily she laughed it off and took the whole thing in really good spirits.”
Dame Judi, currently filming the latest Bond film, Die Another Day, in Scotland, flew to the Essex port of Harwich for the ceremony in a private jet belonging to Carnival Corporation chief executive Micky Arison.
The Oscar-winning star agreed to be the godmother of the ship so she could donate her £16,000 fee to good causes. Most of the money went to the Oxford Iris Murdoch appeal to provide bursaries at St Anne’s College, Oxford, where Dame Iris taught philosophy for many years. Dame Judi won an Oscar nomination for her portrayal of the writer in the film Iris. Another of the actress’s favourite causes, the British Lung Foundation, will also benefit.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
