Related Articles
The veteran actress, 77, has portrayed the monarch on the silver screen and on the stage, winning an Oscar and Bafta for her depiction in 2006’s biographical drama The Queen.
Bafta fellow Dame Helen will lead the Queen’s commendation at the 76th annual film awards ceremony at London’s Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall on Sunday.
The Queen had a close association with the Academy which spanned 50 years and saw her donate and support initiatives, as well as attend many events over the years.
In 1972, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh donated the profits from the documentary film Royal Family to the Society of Film and Television Arts (SFTA), which later became the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (Bafta), for a new headquarters.
The renaming of the organisation occurred during the official opening of the headquarters in 1976, which was conducted by The Queen, and remains the London home of Bafta five decades on.
During her lifetime, The Queen was a patron of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, the Royal Variety Charity and the Cinema and Television Benevolent Fund.
In April 2013, the Queen received an honorary Bafta award by Sir Kenneth Branagh at Windsor Castle for her “tireless support” for the industry.
The Queen’s grandson, the Prince of Wales, has been the president of Bafta since 2010.
William and Kate will be attending the ceremony for the first time in three years before meeting the winners and Rising Star Award nominees.
Bafta’s chief executive Jane Millichip said: “It is an absolute pleasure to welcome so many nominees and film industry guests to the EE Bafta Film Awards on Sunday.
“This year’s Awards are shaping up to be one of our most well attended on record, which is a ringing endorsement of the importance of British audiences to the global film industry, and Bafta’s role in bringing these incredible films and filmmakers to public attention.
“Bafta’s membership of 7,500 industry experts have been voting and I can’t wait to find out which names will be read out on the night.”
This year sees Netflix’s anti-war epic All Quiet On The Western Front with 14 nominations – while The Banshees Of Inisherin, starring Colin Farrell, and Everything Everywhere All At Once, featuring Michelle Yeoh, follow closely behind with 10 nominations each.
The EE Bafta Film Awards will be broadcast on February 19 at 7pm on BBC One and iPlayer.
