Succession’s Harriet Walter reveals damehood is a ‘nightmare’ as she opens up about having the title

Harriet Walter revealed that her femininity gives her “nightmares” when she opened up about the title.

The Succession actress, 72, said the title is not recognizable on most websites when she tries to make payments or a booking.

The Crown star, who received the gong in 2011 for her services to Queen Elizabeth in acting, explained how she struggled with the title.

She said, ‘It’s on one of my bank cards, but not the other one. But it also causes all kinds of nightmares on most websites because they have a drop-down menu that says, “What’s your title?” and they hardly ever have a lady there.’

She added, “Sometimes I go, okay, if I want people to know I’m a lady, it says first name, and I put Dame Harriet.”

“And then you go to the airport and they say, ‘You’re not here.’ I say, “Look under D.”‘

Dame Harriet previously revealed she had intended to turn down the Queen’s offer to become a dame, but decided to accept the honor as a “feminist” move.

In a 2020 interview, she said, “My first reaction was, ‘I’m really going to be right and reject it'”.

“I thought, ‘I’m egalitarian and I don’t believe in inequality.’ And then I thought, “You know what? All the guys in my profession, when they get to a certain age, they’re offered a knighthood and part of that is because they’ve had access to the roles that will hold them.” profession for decades”.

“And I wanted to say, ‘Come on, let’s hear it for the ladies!’ Suddenly my egalitarian credentials went through the tube and my feminist credentials dominated.’

The actress has enjoyed a five-decade career that has spanned more than 70 movies and TV shows, including Call The Midwife, The Crown, and Downton Abbey. But her big success came as the evil mentor to Jodie Comer’s Villanelle in Killing Eve.

She said of playing “gloriously immoral” Dasha, “It’s unlike anything I’ve ever done. I have a crazy side that no one has ever seen. I’ve played a lot of aristocratic people. It’s so much fun playing someone crazy.’

Dame Harriet, the niece of the late horror actor Sir Christopher Lee, was rejected by five acting schools before securing a place at the London Academy of Music and Art.

Opening: The actress, 72, said the title is not recognizable on most websites when trying to make payments or a booking (pictured 2017)

In April of this year, Dame Harriet opened up about not having kids — admitting she never felt like she was “cut out for it.”

She added that she has wondered if having her own children would have made it easier for her to play mother.

The thespian also discussed that there are no rules to happiness – noting that some people can be childless and “blissfully happy,” and that people who are married with children can be unhappy.

Writing in the Sunday Times, the London-based actress also opened up about her crush on her husband, Guy Paul, in his late 50s.

Harriet pondered whether not being a mother herself should preclude her from portraying one on screen.

‘I’ve never had children – does that mean I can’t play Lady Caroline? I sometimes wonder if I could have added something else to the role if I had. The fact is, I never felt fit for it,” the actress wrote.

She added that having children does not guarantee happiness and there are no rules about what should make you happy in life.

Career: The actress has had a career spanning five decades with more than 70 films and TV shows, including playing Lady Caroline Collingwood in Succession (pictured)

“I have friends with long-married children who are unhappy. I have friends without children, no partner and they are blissfully happy. There are no rules,” she said.

The actress has been married to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them actor Guy Paul since 2011, when she was 60.

The pair met five years after the death of Harriet’s fiancé, the actor Peter Blythe, from lung cancer in 2004.

The actress admitted she didn’t know if she would be able to love again after Blythe’s death, but eventually fell for Paul while she was working on a play, as their romance blossomed backstage.