Maureen Lipman reveals she had a premonition the Queen would die

Maureen Lipman had a premonition the Queen would die, shortly before the Monarch’s death was announced on September 8.

Speaking to Kirsty Young during the BBC’s coverage of the Queen’s funeral on Monday, the actress, 76, said she felt compelled to text one of her Coronation Street co-stars after her ‘strange experience.’

Kirsty said: ‘You were preparing to go on stage 11 days ago when you heard the news that stopped so many of us. How did you react?’

Maureen responded: ‘I had a premonition Kirsty. I actually texted to a friend in Corrie, “I think the Queen is going to die”, I just had one of those strange experiences, and then I thought that the show would be cancelled.

‘It was in Manchester, it was a one-woman show, I didn’t think anyone would play that night. But the directors came through that we were all to carry on. And all I can say is it’s quite a harrowing show, as well as… but all I can say is that it was very tender that night.

‘Because my reaction was immediately visceral. I immediately sobbed and then literally the show had to go on.’

Lipman met the Queen on six occasions and previously branded the Royal a ‘geezer’ after she visited the soap set in July 2021.

Royal encounter: Lipman met the Queen on six occasions and previously branded the Royal a ‘geezer’ (pictured 1990s)

Premonition: Speaking to Kirsty Young during the BBC’s coverage of the Queen’s funeral on Monday, the actress, 76, said she felt compelled to text one of her Coronation Street co-stars after her ‘strange experience’

Maureen said: ‘I had a premonition Kirsty. I actually texted to a friend in Corrie, “I think the Queen is going to die”

In October that year Maureen Lipman was made a Dame Commander of the British Empire by then Prince of Wales Charles – in recognition of her stellar career and charity work. 

 King Charles had appeared tearful at his mother’s Westminster Abbey state funeral that ended with two minutes of silence, the Last Post and the national anthem. The monarch also looked emotional as he saluted when his mother left Wellington Arch in a hearse this afternoon.

On a day of pomp and poignant symbolism, grief was etched on the faces of Charles, his siblings and children as well as the huge crowds who swamped The Mall, Whitehall and Parliament Square to bade farewell to the beloved monarch as her coffin was carried from the Abbey on a gun carriage.

Members of the Royal Family, including the King, marched poignantly behind, while others including the Princess of Wales and her children George and Charlotte, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, all looked on at the crowds as they passed them in vehicles.

The poignant scenes followed an extraordinary and emotional state funeral attended by 2,000 VIPs, royals, prime ministers and several hundred ordinary Britons chosen by the Queen, who died 11 days ago. The Archbishop of Canterbury described the Queen as having touched ‘a multitude of lives’ and having been a ‘joyful’ figure for many.

Final farewell: Celebrities, royals and dignitaries attended the state funeral