Most women only a few days away from their 63rd birthday would be steering well clear of the beach. And if they did venture there, it would be in the most modest of concealing attire. Dame Helen Mirren, however, is happy to flaunt her enviable curves and flat stomach in a bikini.
It seems hard to believe that this is the same actress whose portrayal of the Queen won her an Oscar. Yet this was no retouched studio shot, with the only work to transform her toned body having been carried out during gruelling hours in the gym. Dame Helen is holidaying in Puglia, on the southern tip of Italy, with her film director husband Taylor Hackford, 63.
She bought a castle in the neighbourhood to celebrate her 2007 Academy Award for Best Actress. She bought the 500-year-old building and grounds near Lecce for around £680,000 and immediately drew up big plans for the estate with refurbishment work starting last summer. The property was uninhabitable, with tumbledown walls and a driveway that was little more than a dirt track.
When the couple first visited the nearby village of Tiggiano to greet locals and - once they heard - civic officials, the welcome was so warm that a baker even made her a cake decorated with a scene from The Queen. Her new Italian home is surrounded by high fortified walls and has a mature vineyard within its grounds. The Mediterranean can be seen half a mile away. Dame Helen also owns an enormous home in California and a property by the Thames in Wapping, East London.
