Mirren's Oscar kiss

Feb 26, 2007, 12:50 GMT

Dame Helen Mirren had to force her husband to give her a kiss when she won the Best Actress Oscar.

The 61-year-old actress won the award for her performance in 'The Queen' but her director husband, Taylor Hackford, at first wouldn't give her congratulatory kiss because he didn't want to steal the limelight from her.

Mirren said: "I had to force my husband to stand up and kiss me. At first he didn't want to do it because he said, 'It's not my moment.' But I told him it was his moment as well."

The 'Calendar Girls' star - who has also won a Best Actress Golden Globe and Best Actress BAFTA for her role as Queen Elizabeth II - dedicated her Oscar to the real British monarch.

Holding the gold statuette aloft, she said: "For 50 years and more, Elizabeth Windsor has maintained her dignity, her sense of duty, and her hairstyle. And I thank her because if it wasn't for her, I most, most certainly would not be here. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Queen."

Later as the couple left the awards ceremony her husband was stopped by an usher who reminded him he needed his ticket to get into the Governor's Ball, the official post-Oscars party.

When the usher also reminded Mirren, she waved her Oscar at him, saying: "I don't need a ticket, darling. This is the ticket."

(C) BANG Media International