The old British Dames trotted out for a photo

I like seeing them all, OP. Age happens to everybody who doesn't have the misfortune to die young. It's nothing to be hidden or ashamed of.

When you said "Old Dame trotted out," I thought you meant Camilla.

Don't forget Lady Fussypants, Brian Cox.

OLD Cunts R US!

Where's Maggie and Eileen?

I love that picture. I absolutely love it.

such a sexy photo

Sad last days.

Other than Camilla, if they all died on the same day, who would get the front page?

I saw Routledge twice in Pirates at the Delacorte. I never knew of her. I was like who was that wonderful person. What a joy she was in that show. Then reading up on her history if she had done the show on Broadway she would have finally had her hit and another Tony.

Acting prince Freddie Fox is a proper little middle-aged British man now, but he’ll always be a delicious twink to me.

I imagine Judi, Vanessa, Twiggy and Joanna would be the finalists for the front page, R8. Not sure I could narrow it down further.

Penelope Keith looks the same as she always has, OP, so I'm not sure what you're on about.

I like it, lovely. Camilla looks to have gotten her health back, lost weight, fixed her hair, etc.

Hope Maureen gave Harriet a punch in the head

[quote]Acting prince Freddie Fox is a proper little middle-aged British man now, but he’ll always be a delicious twink to me.

Him getting fucked in Cucumber was delicious. The director had to ruin the scene by the quick cutaway to the ugly lead character sitting alone in his bedroom wishing he was being fucked.

Where was fucking Dame Christopher Biggins?

Homophobes.

It’s nothing without Maggie Smith! Nothing!

Fuck that Tory cunt Biggins.

Love Joanna Lumley sizing up the 20 year old intern.

[quote]Dame Judi read Sonnet 116, one of Shakespeare's most famous love sonnets.

They should have followed that up with Joanna Lumley doing her "Room Service. I've brought something hot up" routine.

Saw Dame Penelope a few weeks ago with Luke Evans in Backstairs Billy. i didn't realise Twiggy kept the name of her former husband, the gorgeous Leigh. amusing to see the old Trotskyite Vanessa with a damehood of the British Empire sitting next to the Queen.

A common feature that separates British actresses from American ones are age-appropriate hairdos.

The thing they have in common is that, at one time or another, they all dated Shakespeare. Then they found out he was gay and formed this support group.

Joanna Lumley has been drinking from the fountain of youth... Here she is in a picture from a couple of weeks ago

Joanna Lumley is just a wonderful human being, inside and out. Thank you for posting this, OP.

Looks like every poster on the We Hate Megan Markle Threads ( except for one)

I saw this pic yesterday and thought they all looked lovely. Virginia McKenna! Good heavens, so nice to see her. Brought a smile to my face.

I have sent an email to these ladies and have instructed them all I should be addressed as "Sir Ben Kingsley."

I love that Jeremy Irons is affecting an ascot.

Lumley and Twiggy have no business sharing a stage with Dench unless it's on Graham Norton.

Dame Joan Collins never did Shakespeare?

Which Shakespeare play did Twiggy perform?

The Boyfriend & Juliet

Where’s Lulu?

LULU!

Champagne for Lulu!

Freddie Fox and Alan Jennings look like they've just fucked.

Hopefully Maggie wasn't there because she's an old cunt who doesn't have time for these biddies.

(and wasn't absent for more serious reasons.)

Ah, I didn’t know Floella was a Dame as well as a Baroness!

I love her. Quite unironically, I just love her.

[quote]Freddie Fox and Alan Jennings look like they've just fucked.

What do you mean "just"? It looks like they are still doing it.

It’s the cast for the new production of The Gkass Menagerie. Camilla plays the horse of course.

Too bad Cilla Black is no longer with us.

Dame Vanessa's appearance as The Lady In The Van makes up for Dame Maggie's absence.

[quote]Dame Joan Collins never did Shakespeare?

A few times, then his wife caught them.

She was known as the British Open even back then and Shakespeare's wife coined the term.

Joanna Lumley may photograph beautifully, be a lovely person, and a great actress. But I stood next to her in a restaurant in NYC about 10 years ago, and her face was shocking in real life. Her plastic surgery, at least 10 years ago, gave her very much of a Joker look. Just terrible.

She’s also surprisingly short.

Looks like Lumley isn't much liked in the group photo. And what the fuck is Maureen Lipman wearing?

Sian Phillips looks a decade younger than Vanessa Redgrave.

I love Harriet Walter's dress. Bring back the ruff.

Vanessa looks like Riff Raff.

Who’s the bitch behind Patricia?

What is Dame Judi wearing?

This photo just makes the whole idea of royalty look even more absurd.

R48 - Dame Maureen Lipman, 77, versatile performer who has become a favorite in Coronation Street.

Where are all the women of colour?!

[quote]Who’s the bitch behind Patricia?

Dame Maureen Lipman

R49 - she brought her own curtain.

Ahhh Penelope Keith, love her.

R52 - Floella Benjamin looks colored.

Maureen Lipman was Aunt Eller in Hugh Jackman Oklahoma.

She's awful.

Great context, R58.

Maureen Lipman plays the mother in The Pianist and she's heartbreaking.

Does she get slapped by a Nazi in that?

[quote]Does she get slapped by a Nazi in that?

Yes, while doing a freewheeling patio number.

The biggest queen of all - Dame Elton John -- was missing.

Nice to see the ladies. But I wouldn't want to be seen with Camilla. Ever.

Sorry R14, do you recoil in horror at the words JEW and ISRAELI??

👨‍❤️‍👨 🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇮🇱 ✡️ 🌹✡️ 🇮🇱 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🇬🇧 👨‍❤️‍👨

Floella Benjamin is a beloved figure for many in the UK. She was one of the few black people on TV when I was a child. She is most famous as a presenter on Play School, a programme aimed at pre-school children. She charmed generations of children with her friendliness and approachability.

She went on to do important campaigning work on children’s welfare and education, and was made a life peer. She was chosen to take part in the King’s Coronation, which I’m happy to say caused racists everywhere to spit feathers. The Daily Mail readership collectively shit a brick.

Always nice to see Penelope Wilton in public.

And Joanna Lumley has become a complete suck-up since Charles got his elevation. Total monarchist now.

Vanessa Redgrave looks even nearer to death than usual

Doing a deep dive on Maureen Lipman is a worthwhile pursuit. It includes European Vacation, Dr. A Who, a one woman show, and Corrie.

Vanessa Redgrave is a hypocrite. After all her Worker’s Revolutionary Party posturing, she accepts a damehood and joins the Establishment she claims to despise. The funniest moment was when she was at BAFTA one year and curtsied to Prince William so deeply she almost did the splits.

Oh, give poor Dame Vanessa a break! The Royal Family has a long, hallowed history of awarding baubles to socialists and republicans. Nothing tames a dissident more effectively than being admitted into the inner circles of society.

[quote] Nothing tames a dissident more effectively than being admitted into the inner circles of society.

Normally, I would agree with this. But Vanessa was born into privilege. I put her on the same level as Jane Fonda. They never had to “work” for anything and rather than be grateful for being given what others work hard for, they adopted radical positions solely for attention. They were already in the inner circles of society.

Vanessa was in a play at The Public Theatre in New York. After the final bows, she would race out to the lobby and beg audience members for donations for the Palestinians.

Just seeing this thread now. Great to see Siân Phillips still going strong at 90. They should have asked her to do some quotations from "I, Claudius".

Thanks for posting, OP.

I loathe Camillia's 1981 hair. Just so awful. All that money and resources, and she has roller-rink hair. No excuse.

R8

Twiggy.

Camilla did very well assembling this crew except Twiggy is totally out of place. The closest she ever got to Shakespeare was her cameo in the Blues Brothers.

Dame Felicity Kendal (CBE) would have been a good substitute.

I just watched the bluray of Camelot. Did not like it at all as a kid. Liked it better this time. Vanessa has to be one of the most beautiful women ever in a movie in this. She is even more beautiful than Franco Nero and gives a wonderful performance. I can't imagine Andrews giving such aa beautiful performance. Richard Harris is an Arthur understudy. Especially after seeing Richard Burton's end of act one speech. Was it the Tonys or Ed Sullivan? Hard to believe it wasn't a smash hit when it first opened even though it had its longueurs. But that cast and that score! I like the fact the movie puts back in You Can Take Me To the Fair. It was cut from the musical after they did the obc. Very bad move just to shorten the running time. In fact it was cut from all licensed materials for the show until recently when they realized oh this is good enough to be put back in the show. Fortunately Fie On Goodness was cut forever. It blights the obc and might be L and L's worst song like An Ordinary Couple for R and H in SOM. Another song to ruin a great obc.

Love her too in Blow-Up. Would love to see the complete The Devils which for some reason Warner has under lock and key which is strange after all the gross gory films getting R ratings we've had for decades.

[quote] I loathe Camillia's 1981 hair. Just so awful. All that money and resources, and she has roller-rink hair. No excuse.

It’s a royal tradition not to be too bothered by such things. Even Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II adopted a hairdo in her forties and hardly deviated from it for the next 50 years. And the Princess Royal is still rocking her bun from the seventies…

"Camilla's roller rink hair"!🤣🤣

I don't know recognize any of these old Ladies, except for Dame Judi, and Camilla.

Ignorance of old celebrities is no defense.

I read on here that Dame Judi was nearly blind.

Yes, R76, in “Camelot,” “Blow Up,” “ Isadora,” etc. Vanessa Redgrave was one of the great beauties of the screen, a Valkyrie, bigger than life and even more glamorous for seeming not to be aware of how beautiful she was.

A little lipstick and mascara would have been nice.

I prefer older, ethereal Vanessa floating across the garden in Howards End, while Grainger softly plays.

Thanks, OP.

[quote]Sian Phillips looks a decade younger than Vanessa Redgrave.

And she was playing an old lady (Livia) in I, Claudius (50 years ago!).

Camilla seems to be modeling her look on Christine McVie.

Did Glenda Jackson die and I missed it?

Pat turned 95 on Saturday, the 17th. When asked why she never married, used the "wouldn't have time for career, husband and children" stock answer.

[quote]Pat turned 95 on Saturday, the 17th. When asked why she never married, used the "wouldn't have time for career, husband and children" stock answer.

There’s one interview from years ago where she says her original career choice was going to be a teacher and spend Summers traveling around Europe and having affairs.

Yes, Glenda Jackson died not too long ago.

Vanessa was pretty fabulous.

Twiggy was always on the chubby side, but now she has gotten really fat.

*

Penelope Keith looks good, OP, She was great in The Norman Conquests.

I did not recognize Vanessa Redgrave until I read the caption. A little make up would've helped.

R94 the last time she wore makeup was for the series Nip/Tuck.

I wonder who selected the 12 Dames? It's great to see so many of them together in one place.

I wonder if they also considered Joan Plowright, Janet Suzman, Maggie Smith, Eileen Atkins, etc.?

R96, Dame Maggie was unavailable as she is currently filing the new Downton movie, in which she appears as as the dowager Countess of Gratham alongside her new love interest, Casper the Friendly Ghost.

Please, she'd be after some dead King.

Joan Plowright seemed heading toward frailty in the Nothing Like a Dame documentary. Eyes basically gone, hearing aids (though Maggie seemed to fess up to them too.)

[quote]Did Glenda Jackson die and I missed it?

Unlike posho commie Vanessa, Glenda refused a damehood until the bitter end.

[quote]Glenda refused a damehood until the bitter end.

And she was a Labour MP, spoke vehemently against Thatcher after the latter's death, and played King Lear at age 82. A genteel Buckingham Palace Dame she magnificently was not.

I remember watching Glenda Jackson giving her comments on Thatcher, speaking after so many mealy-mouthed MPs who clung to the illusion that Thatcher was somehow not a hugely divisive and destructive figure.

Jackson’s speech was a relief, giving voice to millions who hated Thatcher and what she did.

Maureen looks ridiculous.

Hosted by Gyles Brandreth. ‘Nuff said.

I adore Penelope Keith. Straight men loved cute, supportive Barbara Good but I preferred glamorous, insecure Margo Leadbetter.

I have purchased all of the Agatha Raisin audiobooks of Audible solely the her narration and continue to do so, even though the quality dropped off sharply after the first 20, and even more so after M.C. Beaton’s death that they are ghostwritten.

The radio play adaptations from the early 2000s are even better, and very funny. Penelope narrates them too.

The old queens here might appreciate Sian Phillips at 90 - it was originally shown last year to mark her 90th birthday but was repeated on BBC Wales yesterday to mark St David's Day. Usually BBC Wales mark the day with something Huw Edwards related but not this year for some reason.

I was lucky enough to be one of Siân Phillips’ dinner partners at a large dinner party in London five or six years ago. She was warm, down-to-earth, completely unpretentious and a wonderful dinner companion. I primarily knew her from “I, Claudius,” which we talked about. But I had read up on her in Wikipedia before dinner, so the first thing I asked her about was a factoid I read there: She was in the same graduating class at RADA as Glenda Jackson and Diana Rigg, but it was Phillips who was offered a Hollywood contract, which she turned down. She was amused to be asked about it — she never had the slightest interest in Hollywood or an American career) — and from there we were off and running.

One thing she said that I remember was that she made it a point to change apartments every few years, and she would move to a new neighborhood in London that she was unfamiliar with each time. She said it kept her sharp, forced her to make new friends and helped her resist sinking into a routine.

R107, thanks for the information on Siân Phillips. It's great that you got to meet her.

I wish she had been asked to reprise her role as Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam in the new 'Dune' films. I am sure she would have been up for it.

Towering Vanessa appears to be smaller than shorty Judi. Slouching or shrinkage?

Direct link to OP's photo:

I’m surprised Jane Asher hasn’t been Damed yet. She’s ubiquitous over there.

R75, Felicity Kendal has a CBE, but she is not a Dame.

R111 - hardly.

She was famous for her cakes a while back but has been more or less retired for years and largely forgotten.

Vanessa is shocking. Stooped and feeble-looking.

Agreed, R113. Jane Asher makes only occasional appearances nowadays. I don't think she even has a CBE, so a Damehood seems unlikely.

I remember she made an appearance in 'The Sarah-Jane Adventures' some years ago, and appeared in a 'Poirot' and a 'Marple', but she's been low-profile for a while.

She does a lot of charity work.