‘We danced a delicate dance together’: Helen Mirren leads tributes to Haydn Gwynne after actress who played Queen Camilla in The Windsors died aged 66 after short cancer battle

Helen Mirren has lead tributes to Haydn Gwynne after the actress who starred as Queen Camilla in The Windsors and shot to fame in 90s sitcom Drop The Dead Donkey died aged 66 after a recent cancer diagnosis.

Figures from the world of showbusiness paid tribute to Gwynne today, with Dame Helen Mirren calling her delight and a ‘consummate dedicated actress’.

Tributes flooded in today for the Tony and Olivier Award-nominated star, whose portrayal of the Queen Consort is believed to have impressed a number of senior royals, with many at the Palace regarding The Windsors as something of a cult programme. 

The star of stage and screen, who received Olivier and Tony nominations for her turn in Billy Elliot The Musical, was due to return to the West End – but withdrew last month due to ‘personal circumstances’. 

The Queen star Mirren, 78, added: ‘I had the huge pleasure of sharing the stage with her, in the play The Audience where, much like the original characters (Queen Elizabeth II and Margaret Thatcher) we danced a delicate dance together.

Her representatives said today that they were announcing her death ‘with great sadness’. 

She passed away in the early hours this morning, surrounded by her close family and friends, they said. 

‘She was both funny and serious at the same time, a brilliant balancing act that her whole career exemplified. We will miss her very much.’

Channel 4 comedy The Windsors was loved by many fans and it has been reported that Queen Camilla herself has watched the satirical show in the past.

Figures from the world of showbusiness paid tribute to Gwynne today, with Dame Helen Mirren calling her delight and a ‘consummate dedicated actress’. Pictured: Helen Mirren and Haydn Gwynne play at the ‘The Audience’ press night and after party in 2013

The 78-year-old (pictured centre) said she had the ‘huge pleasure of sharing the stage with her’ as they starred as  Queen Elizabeth II and Margaret Thatcher

Actress Haydn Gwynne – known for her stints in Drop The Dead Donkey and The Windsors –  died aged 66. Pictured in 2021 

She was also known for playing Camilla in The Windsors, which aired for a Coronation special in May

Haydn Gwynne played Camilla, who is depicted as an evil stepmother, in The Windsors 

The Coronation episode of The Windsors, which aired in May, saw Camilla – who is depicted as an evil stepmother – dressing herself in jewels and fur ahead of the ceremony. 

Actor Samuel West said: ‘This is a terrible loss. One of the nicest and one of the best.’ Writer Jack Thorne called her a ‘wonderful performer’, adding that she was the ‘kindest, loveliest soul.’

She had been due to appear in Cameron Mackintosh’s latest musical production, titled Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends, at the Gielgud Theatre when the show opened in September – but she had to withdraw beforehand due to ‘sudden personal circumstances’.

At the time, Mackintosh had recalled that she had become an ‘integral part’ of the ‘very close-knit company’ after giving an ‘unforgettable’ performance of the song Ladies Who Lunch during an Old Friends gala premiere in May 2022, adding: ‘Haydn will be very much missed.’ 

A statement from Gwynne’s representatives said: ‘It is with great sadness we are sharing with you that, following her recent diagnosis with cancer, the star of stage and screen Haydn Gwynne died in hospital in the small hours of Friday 20 October, surrounded by her beloved sons, close family and friends.

‘We would like to thank the staff and teams at the Royal Marsden and Brompton Hospitals for their wonderful care over the last few weeks.’

Reacting to the news, Dame Helen, who starred with Gwynne in The Audience, said: ‘Haydn was a delight as a person and a consummate dedicated actress.

‘I had the huge pleasure of sharing the stage with her, in the play The Audience where, much like the original characters (Queen Elizabeth II and Margaret Thatcher) we danced a delicate dance together.

‘She was both funny and serious at the same time, a brilliant balancing act that her whole career exemplified. We will miss her very much.’

Gwynne is seen back row second from left with fellow cast members in Drop the Dead Donkey

Haydn Gywnn performs the finale of the Opening Night and World Premiere of ‘Billy Elliot: The Musical’ at the Victoria Palace in London 2005

The Crown stars are pictured together – including Imelda Staunton who plays the Queen

Actress Haydn Gwynne – known for her stints in Drop The Dead Donkey and The Windsors – has died aged 66

James Dreyfus, who starred alongside Rowan Atkinson in 1990s sitcom The Thin Blue Line, said: ‘Terribly sad to hear of the death of Haydn Gwynne. A wonderful actress. Far too young.’

Born in Hurstpierpoint, Sussex, Gwynne’s father Pat was a printer who ran his own business.

As a child, Gwynne was kicked out of the Brownies for insubordination but excelled at school, where she performed well academically and also became the junior county tennis champion. 

Gwynne had long wanted to be an actress but spent her early adult life in Rome teaching English.

Although she was worried about how her parents might react, at age 25 she returned home to pursue her dream.

In 2015, Gwynne wrote about the day that ‘changed her life’ for the Daily Mail and detailed a moment when she was walking through New York in the mid-80s. 

Gwynne said she was worried about what her father would think of her if she went into acting and despite feeling ‘a pull’ to the industry, she continued to suppress it. 

‘Partly I was unsure what my family would think. My father was a Barnardo’s boy and I was worried he’d think I was wasting my talents.

‘I also felt because I hadn’t been to drama school an acting career was impossible, and that if I didn’t work abroad after university then I never would, so I went to Italy.

‘Yet the notion wouldn’t go away and when I was offered two jobs simultaneously, I refused both and went to New York on a whim,’ she wrote for the paper. 

The actress said that just after she watched  the original production of Nine at the 46th Street Theatre, she felt a moment of calm and realised what she wanted to do with her life. 

She said: ‘It was a huge relief and my father was very supportive.’ 

Sir Elton John and Haydn Gwynne are pictured posing at the opening night party for ‘Billy Elliot The Musical’ in 2006 

Haydn Gwynne played Camilla in The Windsors alongside Harry Enfield as King Charles

Her representatives said that she died in the small hours of Friday 20 October, surrounded by her beloved sons, close family and friends

The star- who was nominated for a Tony Award – played Billy Elliot’s dance teacher in both the West End and on Broadway

Hillary Clinton greets Haydn Gwynne and David Alvarez and the cast backstage at Broadway musical Billy Elliot at The Imperial Theater in New York in 2008

Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson is pictured visiting Gwynne and the stars of Broadway show Billy Elliot in 2009, in New York

Gwynne is pictured here in a tutu whilst performing in Billy Elliot the musical in New York 2008 

Denzel Westley-Sanderson, Sir Ian McKellen and Haydn Gwynne are pictured attending the Sir Peter Hall Director Award Ceremony at The Swan, Shakespeare’s Globe last May

In an interview with the Mail in 1999, she was praised for having ‘the entirely unactressy habit of turning publicity angles into proper conversation.’

Interviewer E.Jane Dickson added: ‘She asks as many questions as she answers and appears genuinely interested in the replies.’

She first made her name in 1990 when she starred as icy Alex Pates in the comedy Drop The Dead Donkey, which also earned her a Bafta TV nomination in 1992.

Her role as Dr Joanna Graham in Peak Practice also propelled her to fame.

The actress also had a successful career on stage and received two Olivier Award nods for her performance in West End productions of City Of Angels and Billy Elliot The Musical.

She secured two further nominations for her roles in The Threepenny Opera and Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown.

Gwynne also featured in Netflix series The Crown, where she portrayed royal aide Lady Susan Hussey, who was engulfed in a ‘racism’ row last year. 

She first made her name in 1990 when she starred as icy Alex Pates in the comedy Drop The Dead Donkey, which also earned her a Bafta TV nomination in 1992

Actors John Simm, James Nesbitt, Haydn Gwynne and David Threlfall attend the reception ahead of the Laurence Olivier Awards at the London Hilton in February 2006 

Speaking to the Daily Mail in 2021, Gwynne said the one thing she has learned from life is to do ‘the thing that makes you joyful’. Pictured: The star in ‘Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown’ in 2014

Speaking to the Daily Mail in 2021, Gwynne said the one thing she has learned from life is to do ‘the thing that makes you joyful’.

She told the paper: ‘You don’t realise how young you are when you’re young — or all the opportunities you have. 

‘You have so much anxiety about the life decisions you need to make, you just can’t see the currencies that you have. Not just your looks and beautiful young skin, but that this really is a time to have a go at things.’

At the time, Gwynne had recently seen a letter that she wrote to her sister when she was in her early 20s where she spoke about how she was worried about whether she had left it too late to become an actress. 

She said: ‘Now from the vantage of middle age, I wish I could have seen myself with adult eyes.’ 

Gwynne’s last appearance in the West End was when she starred as character Pam Lee – thought to be based off the presenter Prue Leith – in The Great British Bake Off Musical in March. 

The actress had recently separated from her partner, Jason Phipps, a Jungian psychoanalyst. The pair remained friends and shared two sons together, Orlando and Harrison.