Follow all our Oscars coverage throughout the day on nzherald.co.nz
We will bring you the latest from the red carpet - including pictures and our experts' views on this year's fashions - from 11am. Then from around 1pm, we'll be covering all the news and results from the awards ceremony as they happen.
KEY POINTS:
Dame Helen Mirren, star of the Oscar-nominated film The Queen, has been invited to meet the real monarch, according to the film's screenwriter.
Peter Morgan told American film magazine Fade In that he, director Stephen Frears and the actress were all set to have lunch at Buckingham Palace.
"We have been invited to meet her.
The [Queen's] private secretary has invited us for lunch - Stephen, Helen and myself. I gather that means she might pop in."
Dame Helen is heavily tipped to pick up the best actress Oscar today.
