Judi Dench ‘breaks down in tears’ when asked about death of friend Maggie Smith

Dame Judi Dench and Dame Maggie Smith had been close friends since their time at the Old Vic theatre in London in the 1950s

Close friends Dame Maggie Smith and Dame Judi Dench arriving at the Theatre Royal in 2021 - the pair were close friends after meeting in the 1950s (William Conran/PA Wire)

Dame Judi Dench reportedly broke down in tears when asked about her grief following the death of her close friend Dame Maggie Smith.

Appearing on stage at the Cheltenham Literature Festival, Dame Judi first appeared to be in a jovial mood, until fellow actor Brendan O’Hea, asked her about grief on Saturday.

“I know I probably shouldn’t bring this up, I know the last week has been tricky for you because you lost your great friends Maggie Smith and Barbara Leigh-Hunt,” Mr O’Hea said.

Leigh-Hunt, who had appeared alongside Dame Judi in BBC sitcom As Time Goes By, died in September aged 88.

Mr O’Hea then asked Dame Judi what she had meant when she had once compared grief to petrol, reported The Times, which sponsor the festival.

“I suppose because the energy that’s created by grief …,” Dame Judi began to say before cutting her answer short as tears started to fall.

Dame Maggie, who died in hospital last month aged 89, had been friends with Dame Judi since meeting in the 1950s at the Old Vic theatre in London. They had appeared on stage and screen together several times, and both took part in the 2018 documentary Nothing Like a Dame.

Dame Maggie Smith was hailed as ‘one of the true greats’ after her death was announced last month (PA Wire)

With a career spanning 70 years, Dame Maggie has been remembered for her versatile repertoire ranging from Shakespeare to the Harry Potter franchise, with her co-stars Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint among those to pay tribute.

It’s now 20 years since Dame Judi and Dame Maggie co-starred in Ladies in Lavender, a 1930s-set costume drama about two Cornish sisters who find a handsome but near-dead Polish castaway on the beach.

Dame Judi, 89, last appeared in the 2022 movie Spirited, starring as herself in Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds’ Christmas musical comedy film.

She suffers from age-related macular degeneration of her eyes, a condition that affects around 700,000 people in the UK.

She spoke about her struggles with her sight with documentary presenter Louis Theroux in 2022, telling him: “I don’t want to retire. I’m not doing much at the moment because I can’t see. It’s bad.”

She added: “I have a photographic memory so a person saying to me, ‘This is your line...’ I can do that.”