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Helen Mirren as Elizabeth II in ‘The Queen’
In 2006, Helen Mirren hid her busty bod in dowdy suits and put on some big glasses to play the still-living Elizabeth II in The Queen, and was rewarded with an Oscar for a classic bait-and-switch. After all, if smart, naughty Mirren could find value in the tone-deaf dignity of this elderly lady, then we could also admit Elizabeth’s relative value. Most importantly, we could forget all about what happened to Princess Diana. The ultimate in celebrity royalty, Diana was a more modern woman who perished still at odds with a monarchy that refuses to die, in life, on screen and at the Oscars.
