‘I’m definitely on Prince Harry‘s side,’ Sir Ian Mckellen said this week.
It’s not the type of comment that might be expected from the legendary actor, who controversially accepted and was awarded a knighthood by the late Queen Elizabeth II in 1991.
But his vehement opinions on the royals don’t end there – and after his fall from a London stage just weeks ago, Sir Ian has certainly had time on his hands to consider things while he recuperated at his London home.
In an interview with Michael Odell of the Times, he branded Harry as ‘not bright enough’ to cope with royal life, the late queen as ‘rude’ and ‘quite mad’ in her final years, and King Charles as ‘damaged’.
Since Prince Harry moved to the US with his wife Meghan Markle, where they live in Montecito with their two children Archie and Lilibet, Sir Ian, 85, appears to have reflected on life in the public eye.
Actor Sir Ian McKellen receives Companion of Honour medal for services to Drama and Equality, from Queen Elizabeth II in 2008
Sir Ian added that Prince Philip appeared ‘deeply unhappy’ and Charles III seems ‘clearly damaged’ by life in the royal family
Sir Ian said he is ‘on Prince Harry’s side’ and compared royal life for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to being in ‘a prison’Â
But while he still has some semblance of privacy, at home at least, he compared life in the royal family to being in a prison.
The Duke of Sussex is ‘probably not bright enough’ to help himself and to have navigated an entire life as a working royal, Sir Ian claimed.
He added that Prince Philip appeared ‘deeply unhappy’ and Charles III seems ‘clearly damaged’ by his life in the royal family.
But it is the late Queen that the Lord of the Rings star met personally on several occasions.
He said that while being awarded a Companion of Honour medal in 2008, the Queen told him: ‘You’ve been doing this a long time.’
She is then said to have added: ‘Does anyone actually still go to the theatre?’ – a statement Sir Ian said was ‘bl***y rude’.Â
He added her handshake gave the signal to ‘go away’.
‘Hats off to anyone who manages to stay sane in that world,’ Sir Ian concluded.Â
Sir Ian said the Queen was ‘bl***y rude’ after she asked him in 2008 if ‘anyone still goes to the theatre’
The now-King Charles and Ian McKellen attend The Prince’s Foundation for Children and the Arts gala dinner in 2008
The actor said Charles (pictured with wife Queen Camilla) is ‘clearly damaged’ by life in the instituion
The actor said Prince Philip appeared ‘deeply unhappy’ with life in the royal family
Sir Ian said Harry did not have the right friends around him to sustain life as a working royal
The royal family has been plagued by strife in recent years, with the recent health scares involving Kate and Charles’ cancer diagnoses at the start of the year putting key working royals out of action.Â
Back in 2020, the Sussexes moved to California which would kickstart a long-running feud between Harry and the rest of his family, most notably his brother Prince William.
A Netflix show and controversial memoir Spare – which Sir Ian owns a copy of – caused yet more tension after the prince made serious allegations against his brother, including that he once physically attacked him.
Harry has returned to the UK several times since retiring as a working royal, including to visit his father after his diagnosis, but has not seen his brother since 2022.Â
Sir Ian had little to say about the Prince and Princess of Wales, although as he is on the side of the Sussexes, it may have been for the best.Â
His comments came after he tripped and fell from the stage during a production of Robert Icke’s Player Kings at the Noel Coward theatre on June 17.
He suffered a chipped his vertebrae and fractured his wrist when he plummeted off stage and onto a member of the audience. Both were taken to hospital.
Sir Ian had little to say about the Prince and Princess of Wales, although as he is on the side of the Sussexes, it may have been for the best
The actor, 85, was playing John Falstaff in the production at the Noel Coward Theatre in London’s West End on June 17 when he lost his footing in a fight scene and plunged from the stage into the audience
In July, Sir Ian took to X, formerly Twitter, to share a health update with his legions of fansÂ
Speaking as he appeared at the premiere of his latest work, Sir Ian told how he felt ‘guilty’ for having to cancel the remaining shows.
‘I felt ashamed of myself, I felt I let the audience down and I felt guilty,’ the star told Sky News.Â
Sir Ian has told how he prepared himself for death as he fell through the air, before he burst into tears after realising he could not complete his performance.Â
Speaking after the fall, he told Saga Magazine:Â ‘My chipped vertebrae and fractured wrist are not yet mended.
‘I don’t go out because I get nervous in case someone bangs into me, and I’ve got agonising pains in my shoulders to do with my whole frame having been jolted.
‘But I was wearing a fat suit for Falstaff and that saved my ribs and other joints. So I’ve had a lucky escape really.’
He added: ‘I’ve relived that fall I don’t know how many times. It was horrible.’
But his acting career seems far from over – with his newest product, film The Critic, due to come out next week.
In it, Sir Ian plays English theatre critic Jimmy Erskine, who is gay. It is set in the 1930s, when homosexuality remained a crime.
The actor, who also played Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings series, came out as gay himself in 1988 amid anger at Margaret Thatcher’s anti-gay legislation, including section 28.
