Ten-year Oliver Burton’s story is heartbreaking. Without getting into all of the details, the young boy has Down’s syndrome and has battled a variety of other cancers, leading up to a recent diagnosis of terminal spine and bone marrow cancer. Throughout all of it, though, his family has tried to make Oliver as happy as possible, so when Queen Elizabeth II couldn’t or wouldn’t fulfill his dream of having tea with her at Buckingham Palace, they got him the next best thing.
Actually, in my opinion, it’s the better thing, but they took Oliver to the Gielgud Theatre to watch Dame Helen Mirren perform as the Queen in The Audience. And after the play, Mirren remained in character as she welcomed Oliver backstage to join her for tea, as the other cast members participated in costume. They even let Oliver meet the corgis.
His father James Browne said: ‘She stayed in character for the whole thing. Oliver thought she was the real Queen, and well, that’s good enough for us.
‘She was really lovely. She did the whole thing – had a butler there, was dressed in costume and did it all properly for him.
She sat in Oliver’s wheelchair and gave him her big chair. She had a glass of coke together and biscuits and little sandwiches and they even brought in her corgis from the show, Coco and Roco.
‘She was wonderful and in some of the photos you do a double take because she really does look like the real Queen.
‘She knighted him and told everyone that they had to call him Sir Oliver. He had a brilliant day.
He took his British flag and got her to sign it and just waved and waved it all day.’ (Via the Daily Mail)
If anyone had a negative opinion of Mirren before this – and she was in RED, so I don’t see how that’s possible – this should take care of that and then some.
