King ‘wants to be involved’ with theatre despite heavy schedule, actor says

An actor who portrayed the King on screen has said Charles “still wants to be involved” in supporting the theatre despite his heavy schedule.

Alex Jennings, who played the then-Prince of Wales opposite Dame Helen Mirren in the 2006 film The Queen, was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to drama by the King at Windsor Castle on Tuesday.

Speaking after the investiture ceremony, Jennings, 67, said he had a brief chat with him and Charles said his royal obligations make it “difficult” for him to go to the theatre as much as he used to.

Jennings said: “We talked about when he remembered first seeing me, in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1996.

“He brought his sons to see it, and they were little.

“He said how it’s more difficult now to go as much as he did, but he used to go a lot when he was Prince of Wales and still clearly wants to be involved, which is so important.”

Jennings said he had met Charles a few times in the past through his involvement with the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), and praised him for supporting the theatre.

He said: “I was really thrilled that I was receiving it (the CBE) from his majesty today because I’m a massive fan of his, just knowing him a little bit through his support for the arts.

“He has been a fantastic support.

“He’s passionate about Shakespeare, and the years I was with the RSC it was wonderful to know that he was there, appreciating the work and being a spokesperson for the theatre.”

Jennings, who also played Edward VIII in Netflix series The Crown, said his performance as the King was not discussed.

He said: “We’ve never talked about the fact that I’ve played him – he’s never mentioned it.”

He added with a smile: “Her majesty Queen Camilla has, and that’s all fine – I can’t say any more about that. She was happy.”

Jennings joined 65 others who were honoured  on Tuesday, including the explorer and hot air balloonist Alicia Hempleman-Adams, and 103-year-old Havildar Major Rajindar Dhatt, one of the few surviving Sikh soldiers who fought for Britain during the Second World War.

Ms Hempleman-Adams, who set the world female altitude record in 2020 flying a hot air balloon at 15,100ft, received an MBE for services to hot air ballooning.

This year, she set world records for a female solo flight in a thermal airship for altitude, distance, and duration after she reached an altitude of 4,100ft while flying in the US state of Connecticut, travelling 12.7 miles in one hour and seven minutes.

Ms Hempleman-Adams’s father, Sir David Hempleman-Adams, holds the equivalent male world records, which he set in 2004, while flying the same hot-air airship used by his daughter.

Afterwards Ms Hempleman-Adams, 35, said: “It’s weird because we always come here for his (her father’s) achievements, so it’s nice to come here for something that I’ve done.”

Ms Hempleman-Adams, 35, from Holt, Norfolk, was at Windsor Castle in a wheelchair after she broke her ankle during a flying exercise.

She said: “We were doing some training and we had a heavy landing and I broke my ankle.”

She said she was able to use crutches to walk up to the King and that Charles was “very nice” and asked about her foot.

She added: “I have six weeks, and then I can try and get walking again.

“But there’s being able to walk and then there’s being able to fly, so we’ll see how the recovery goes.”

Major Dhatt, born in pre-partition India in 1921, was at Windsor Castle surrounded by his family as he was made an honorary MBE for services to the South Asian community in the UK.

Major Dhatt, a sergeant major in the British Indian Army and one of the last surviving Sikh soldiers who saw action during the Second World War, said he was “deeply honoured” to receive the award at the age of 103.

He added in a statement: “When I first moved to the UK in 1963, after serving in the British Indian Army during the Second World War, I felt a deep responsibility to highlight the invaluable contributions made by myself and my fellow comrades.

“The Indian Army remains the largest voluntary army in history, yet the sacrifices of its soldiers often went unacknowledged.

“However, receiving an MBE today for my efforts in the UK, a country I have called home for most of my life, feels like the crowning achievement of my journey.”