What is it that makes Colin Firth, Helen Mirren and Judi Dench so good at playing our monarchs of old? Is it maturity, is it talent or is it just that they all have a crown fetish? From the Sixteenth Century up to the present day, many actors have tried to play royalty, and few have succeeded. Those that have are celebrated here.

Morgan Freeman has been awarded the American Film Institute’s Life Achievement Award. Quite right too.