Helen Mirren won the award for Best Actress at the glittering BAFTA awards ceremony last night. She beat off fierce competition from Oscar rivals Kate Winslet and Judi Dench.

Following the recent Golden Globe prize for her stunningly sympathetic performance in The Queen, a film covering the immediate aftermath of the death of Princess Diana, Dame Helen is now runaway favourite to win the Oscar for Best Actress. She has been nominated along with fellow British actresses, Judi Dench and Kate Winslet.

This really is a golden period for British actors. The three who go forward for this year’s Oscars all give superb accounts of difficult roles in their respective movies. Any one could win with distinction.

However, all eyes are on Dame Helen, whose portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II has already become a classic that has redefined public attitudes to a once beleaguered Queen.

The film was meant to do a hatchet job on the Monarchy, but writer and director hadn’t factored in the Mirren contribution. The Queen herself has never been more popular, except in her early “salad days” when few could match her for looks.

A film that changes the course of history, or how an historical event is seen, is a rare occurrence. The Queen is just that.

Celebrity can sometimes work for the better, instead of leaving the usual trashy trail behind it.