Meghan isn’t really in my consciousness says Dame Joan Collins but Kate ‘never puts a foot wrong: Dame reveals what she really thinks of the royals as she prepares to play Wallis Simpson in biopic

One of Britain’s leading veteran actresses, she is preparing to play the most controversial member of the royal family.

Dame Joan Collins will take on the role of Wallis Simpson in a biopic about the final years of her life, and says the American divorcee whom Edward VIII abdicated was ‘somewhat maligned’.

But unsurprisingly, the outspoken Lady also has some rather harsh opinions about the latest generation of female Royals.

“Meghan isn’t really in my consciousness,” she tells Liz Jones of The Mail on Sunday today in an interview for You magazine. But she adds, “Catherine never puts a step wrong.”

Five-times married Dame Joan, who celebrated her 90th birthday in May, gave the wonderfully charismatic interview from her villa in St. Tropez, and she offers her unfiltered take on everything from cancel culture to Botox, menopause and why modern actresses everyone on the red carpet is just ‘showing off’ going bald.

Unsurprisingly, the outspoken Lady also has some rather bitter opinions about the latest generation of female Royals (Photo: Catherine, Princess of Wales and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex at Wimbledon in 2018)

“They think it’s empowering,” she says of the latter. ‘But I see it as showing off. You know your breasts and the crack in your buttocks ensures that you get more space in the newspaper and get the most likes.’

Despite being known for her glamor and enduring good looks, the star (pictured right in her photoshoot for You) insists she doesn’t believe in Botox, surgery or even too much make-up.

“For last night’s party, I applied a darker base because my body is tan, so I have to,” she explains. ‘Some eye shadow. I never wear false eyelashes or mascara. I have friends who have permanent eyelashes. They look strange with a pale face and spidery eyelashes.

“I mean, these reality stars all have eyelashes and pumped lips and honestly I can’t tell them apart! Does that sound terrible? Get it out of! Judi Dench looks fantastic.’

While her late sister, the novelist Jackie Collins – who died of breast cancer in 2015 – had a nose job, Dame Joan says she had nothing done.

‘I tried Botox once, this was the late eighties. I screamed and ran outside and I never came back. I’m very happy with the way I look.’

She attributes her beauty to good diet and exercise, and rolls her eyes at celebrities using the new so-called weight loss shots like Ozempic.

Dame Joan Collins will take on the role of Wallis Simpson (pictured) in a biopic about the final years of her life, and says the American divorcee for whom Edward VIII abdicated was ‘somewhat maligned’

“There’s too much obsession with treatments and whatever that stuff is, they put it in their body to make it thinner,” she says.

And she has no sympathy for the fuss made by menopause campaigners. She insists it was ‘not a problem’ for her generation, adding that she was ‘on HRT for 20 years… I thought I was going to be an old woman, but I didn’t’.

She’s certainly not an old woman. She married her fifth and final husband Percy Gibson in 2002. However, age is something she prefers not to talk about.

“I don’t want to be identified with an age group,” she says.

‘It’s a matter of your physical and mental capabilities. My life is really good. I was born with a happy gene.’

In addition to the new acting role, she will embark on a 12-date UK tour next month to promote her memoir, Joan Collins: Behind The Shoulder Pads. “It’s hard work to be an actress,” she says.

Read the full interview in tomorrow’s issue of You magazine.