How Helen Mirren won the White House correspondents' dinner

Actress Helen Mirren shows her Prince symbol tribute at the 102nd White House Correspondents' Association Dinner in Washington, DC. Photo / Getty Images

Dame Helen Mirren showed up at the White House correspondents' dinner with purple gown, a purple tattoo near her collarbone and a plan to honour Prince.

The hand-drawn symbol is temporary, but the actress still wanted to honour the legendary singer, who died suddenly last week at age 57.

"I admire great artists and he was a great artist," she said, according to The Post's Roxanne Roberts.

Helen Mirren wearing a purple dress and tattoo in honour of Prince. Photo / Getty Images.

Mirren says she wishes the drawing had a cooler story. "I'd love to say that Prince himself did it in 1988 or something, instead of me in the bathroom this morning," Mirren told

The Post

's Emily Heil.

Lord knows, she didn't have to make such an effort to get attention. From the time she arrived on the WHCD party scene Friday night, the Oscar winner was perhaps the most sought-after A-lister in town. At the dinner itself, she had a prime table with both Joe Biden and John Kerry.

This isn't the first time Mirren has arrived in Washington with a visible message: The actress showed up at the Kennedy Center Honors in 2005 with a t-shirt over her dress as a tribute to Hurricane Katrina victims.