The delightful Dame Judi Dench portrays Queen Victoria for the second time in her career in the upcoming film Victoria and Abdul. 

Dench first portrayed the English monarch in the 1997 film Mrs Brown, now two decades later she’s reprising the role in a new film from Australian director Stephen Frears.

The film is based on a best-selling novel and shares the real life story of Queen Victoria’s unlikely friendship with Indian servant Abdul Karim.

The film also stars Ali Fazal as Abdul and Eddie Izzard as Bertie, the Prince of Wales. Other cast members include Simon Callow, Michael Gambon, and in his final on-screen role, Tim Piggot-Smith

Check out the trailer for Victoria and Abdul.   

The 82 year old actress shows no signs of slowing down with a stack of film projects lined up.

Later this year she’s also appearing in Tulip Fever a new film from director Justin Chadwick who previously directed Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom and The Other Boleyn Girl. The film has been scripted by Sir Top Stoppard and is based on a novel by Deborah Moggach.    

Dench has also signed on to play Princess Natalia Dragomiroff in a new version of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express which is being directed by Sir Kenneth Brannagh.