Helen Mirren Praises Meghan Markle for Demonstrating "Elegance, Discipline, Simplicity and Humanity"

Helen Mirren, who played Elizabeth II in The Queen and who Prince Harry has jokingly called "Granny," sang Meghan Markle's praises in a new interview. The actress says the Duchess of Sussex has demonstrated "elegance" and "discipline" as a royal.

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In the center of the Venn diagram made up of "classy actresses" and "people with a strong connection to the royal family" sit only a handful of people. Dame Helen Mirren and Meghan Markle are two of them.

Meghan's connection to the royal family is clear (you know, since she's officially in it and all), but if you need a refresher on Mirren's, think back to 2006. That's the year Mirren starred as Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen, a performance that earned her both a Best Actress Oscar and the personal praise of the real Elizabeth. 

"Prince Charles is very, very tactful," she told the hosts of Good Morning Britain on Thursday of her relationship with the royal family since playing its matriarch. "Harry and William have mentioned it to me and have been very funny and very cool about it...I think Harry once said, when I was at an awards ceremony, he said, 'And Granny is here.'"

Given her easy rapport with the royals, it's not surprising that, while they were on the subject, the Good Morning Britain hosts took the opportunity to ask Mirren about her surrogate granddaughter-in-law and fellow thespian, Meghan Markle. 

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"I think right from the moment that relationship was revealed, she conducted herself with incredible self-restraint, elegance, discipline and simplicity and humanity," Mirren said of Meghan. "I was an admirer . . . it’s an incredibly difficult life to lead, talk about pressure. I think she is doing it with great elegance."

So, it's official: Meghan has won over yet another (kind of) royal.

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Kayleigh Roberts
Contributing Editor at Marie Claire

Kayleigh Roberts is a freelance writer and editor with over 10 years of professional experience covering entertainment of all genres, from new movie and TV releases to nostalgia, and celebrity news. Her byline has appeared in Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Harper’s Bazaar, The Atlantic, Allure, Entertainment Weekly, MTV, Bustle, Refinery29, Girls’ Life Magazine, Just Jared, and Tiger Beat, among other publications. She's a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.