ONE of Britain’s most-loved actresses has taken time out of her busy schedule to help a Hampshire charity.

Dame Judi Dench brought extra sparkle to Christmas in Winchester when she put her rehearsals on hold and took time out to visit the Winchester Guildhall for a conversation with friend and biographer, John Miller. 

The event, held in aid of local charity Home-Start Winchester and backed by solicitors Dutton Gregory, raised nearly £8,000 to support the family charity’s work in and around the city.

The pair reminisced about Judi’s early years honing her craft with Sir John Gielgud through to her latest film where she reprises her role as Queen Victoria, four years on from the death of John Brown.

Victoria and Abdul is a touching story about the monarch’s friendship with a young Indian boy, to be released in 2017.

Judi declared a passion for India, discovered during her filming of the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.

She regaled her audience with tales of naughtiness with Tim Pigott-Smith, whom she found strangely alluring with his gloved hand in the Jewel in the Crown and mysteriously a glove would make its way around the world to various productions and appear in unusual places - under the lid of a tureen and even through a hole in the wall of an outside loo when she was filming with Kevin Spacey in The Shipping News.

When asked by a member of the audience what was the most terrifying experience in her career she said working on As Time Goes By. 

Geoffrey Palmer was a veteran of comedy series’ but for Judi, starting work on a Wednesday, learning lines, setting up and rehearsing, with a live performance on the Sunday was always a completely nerve wracking experience.

In recent years Judi has become a racing aficionado and at one time owned a 50% stake in a race horse which did extremely well, winning several races.

The Grande Dame of stage and film shows no sign of slowing down; Judi was cooking lunch for 10 on Christmas Day and begins work on her next project in early January.

Home-Start Winchester chairman Liz Cooper thanked sponsors Dutton Gregory for their generosity in backing the starry evening and presented Dame Judi with a bottle of champagne as a thank you for taking time out of her busy schedule to come to Winchester.