Dame Helen Mirren salutes The Queen

Dame Helen Mirren has paid tribute to Queen Elizabeth II after winning the Best Actress award at the Oscars for her role as the reigning monarch in The Queen.

The 61-year-old actress praised the monarch's "courage and consistency" in her acceptance speech before she raised her Oscar statuette and said: "I thank her because if it wasn't for her I most certainly would not be here. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Queen!"

Explaining her acceptance speech to a BBC interviewer, she said: "I had to recognise the person that I was playing, the history of our country, and what she means to us and me. I wouldn’t be here without her.”