Staunton learns of young Royal fans

Actress Imelda Staunton poses with her husband Jim Carter after she received a CBE from the Duke of Cambridge for services to drama at an investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace. Yui Mok/PA Wire

William told the Vera Drake actress that Prince George and Princess Charlotte listen to her readings of the Julia Donaldson books on car journeys.

Stauntonwas honoured for her services to drama at a ceremony at Buckingham Palace.

She is better known with younger audiences for her portrayal of Dolores Umbridge in two Harry Potter films, as well as Mrs Blatherwick in Nanny McPhee, and can now add the royals to her fan base.

After she collected her CBE from the Duke, she said: “We did have a nice chat about what I do and that their children listen to me because I’ve done all of the Julia Donaldson books, The Gruffalo and 10 or 12 others, and they listen to them in the car so they know my voice.”

Staunton was nominated for an Oscar, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award for her titular role in Vera Drake, about a working class woman performing illegal abortions in the 1950s, but said nothing matches her day at the Palace.

She said: “Being an actor and then getting a prize, well it’s prize enough doing the job, we get made enough fuss of. But with this, I feel included with what people in the nation have done, I feel like one of them.”