Helen Mirren "Gave Up" on One Must-Have During Tea with Queen Elizabeth

Royal etiquette can be confusing for those who aren’t used to attending palace events, and even though Dame Helen Mirren once played Queen Elizabeth on the big screen, she found herself tongue-tied around the late Queen and Prince Philip in real life.

In a new interview with the “Today” show, Mirren shared a story about a time she was invited to an event with the Royal Family. The actress explained that after she’d been served tea, she looked around for milk, but the jug was out of reach.

"The milk jug is on the other side of Prince Philip,” Mirren recalled. “I’m thinking, ‘How do I get the milk?’ And I just could not remember how to…what’s the word…address Prince Philip.”

Helen Mirren talking about tea with Queen Elizabeth
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Queen Elizabeth shaking hands with Helen Mirren — Helen Mirren shakes hands with Queen Elizabeth at a reception in 2014. (Image credit: Getty Images)

In case you're wondering, the correct answer would be "Your Royal Highness" when first greeting him, and "sir" thereafter. But Mirren was stuck. "Do I call him sir? Is it Your Majesty? Is it Your Royal Highness? I just could not remember how you're supposed to address him."

Mirren, who was named a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth in 2003, then looked around for a member of staff, but was out of luck.

Eventually, The Queen star threw in the (tea) towel. "I just gave up and had it without milk because I couldn't deal with the situation," she admitted with a laugh.

Helen Mirren standing next to Queen Elizabeth wearing a blue dress — Mirren and the late Queen attend a performing arts reception at Buckingham Palace in 2011. (Image credit: Getty Images)

Mirren isn't the first person to experience a stressful tea-related encounter with the Royal Family. In 2024, The Great British Bake Off star Prue Leith shared an Instagram Reel recounting the time she messed up Queen Elizabeth's tea order.

Leith tried to find out how the late Queen liked her tea ahead of an event, but a palace staffer refused to tell her. "You'd think it was a state secret!" she exclaimed. After putting a slice of lemon into Queen Elizabeth's tea cup, the late monarch said, "no lemon, thanks." Since there was no extra cup on hand, Leith was forced to plop the tea-soaked lemon on her tray, causing a "great big brown stain" to spread across its cloth.

"I thought that usually people who like black tea like it weak," she shared. But when Leith had finished topping off Queen Elizabeth's cup with hot water, she said, "I like it strong."

"She got weak lemony tea when what she wanted was strong black tea," the cookbook author said. "I've felt bad ever since, but there it was."