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Helen Mirren, who won an Oscar for her film portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II, has turned down an invitation for dinner at Buckingham Palace.
Mirren, star of The Queen, declined the monarch's invitation, a rare honour, because she was busy with filming for her new movie, National Treasure: Book of Secrets, in the United States.
"The palace very kindly extended an invitation to dinner last Tuesday, May 1," Mirren said in a statement quoted by The Daily Mail.
"But, unfortunately, I was filming in South Dakota and unable to change my schedule. I am very sad not to have been able to attend."
