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The Queen’s favourite film Flash Gordon: Why Her Majesty loved the 1980 sci-fi movie-Kim Novak-Entertainment – Metro
She made him say his iconic catchphrase.
The Queen was a huge Flash Gordon fan (Picture: Rex/Getty)
Little is known about the late Queen Elizabeth II’s movie-watching habits, but one of her favourite films was none other than Flash Gordon.
The news that the monarch was a huge fan of the 1980 sci-fi film was revealed by Brian Blessed in 2020, during an interview about its 40th anniversary.
Brian, who starred as Prince Vultan in the film, revealed to Edith Bowman on Yahoo Movies that everyone – including Queen Elizabeth, who died on September 8 at the age of 96 – had asked him to repeat his iconic line from the flick, explaining: ‘Everywhere I go, they all want me to say “Gordon’s alive!”
‘The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker, horses and queens, and prime ministers, they all want me to say “Gordon’s alive!”, it’s their favourite film.’
He explained: ‘The Queen, it’s her favourite film, she watches it with her grandchildren every Christmas.’
While Brian did not reveal when he and the Queen had had the exchange, he added that she told him: ‘You know, we watch Flash Gordon all the time, me and the grandchildren.
‘And if you don’t mind, I’ve got the grandchildren here, would you mind saying “Gordon’s alive?”’
Whether or not it was to do with his starring role is unknown, but Brian was appointed an OBE for services to arts and charity in 2016.
Flash Gordon is a space opera film directed by Mike Hodges, based on a comic strip of the same name.
It follows the titular quarterback, played by Sam J. Jones, and his allies Dale Arden (Melody Anderson) and Hans Zarkov (Topol) as they unite the warring factions of the planet Mongo against Ming The Merciless (Max von Sydow), who is trying to destroy Earth.
Hundreds of thousands of mourners have visited the Queen’s coffin (Picture: Yui Mok – WPA Pool/Getty Images)
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The Queen died at the age of 96, just two days after meeting with Liz Truss (Picture: AP)
The film, which is now a cult classic, did well at the box office in the UK but performed poorly in other markets on its release.
The Queen died at the age of 96 on September 8, just two days after meeting with Liz Truss to appoint her Prime Minister.
Concerns had been raised for the Queen after the Palace released a statement saying she was under medical supervision and her family rushed to Balmoral to be by her side.
The world faced an agonising wait from the first announcement at lunchtime, until 6.30pm when it was confirmed that the Queen had died peacefully in the afternoon.
Her state funeral will be held on Monday, September 19, after lying in state at the Palace of Westminster where hundreds of thousands of mourners queued up for several hours to visit her coffin and pay tribute.
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