Helen Mirren Honored as Woman of the Year

The Academy Award-winning actress was at the center of the annual Hasty Pudding parade.

Dame Helen Mirren

Dame Helen Mirren | Photograph by Harvard Magazine/LL

sporting a fluffy white hat and red lipstick, actress Helen Mirren paraded through Harvard Square this afternoon atop a white Bentley with members of Hasty Pudding Theatricals to be honored by the cross-dressing drama group as “Woman of the Year.” Mirren, best known for her Oscar-winning portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen and Emmy-winning role in the Prime Suspect television series, waved and smiled to an animated crowd gathered along Massachusetts Avenue before entering Farkas Hall, where she accepted her Pudding Pot.

She joins the ranks of such previous winners Claire Danes, Scarlett Johansson, Halle Berry, Anne Hathaway, Katharine Hepburn, and Meryl Streep.

Watch a short video of Mirren here: 

&nbsp">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVjOmh8VZ5E] 

You might also like

After a final round of layoffs, University leaders say 165 staff jobs were eliminated across the division.

A roundup of University news from the summer of 2026

FAS leaders say restructuring will be complete by mid-October.

Most popular

All That’s Unseen charts the Harvard graduate’s uneasy journey from Appalachia to Cambridge and back.  

An animal’s journey from grief to love shows how much humans need each other, too.

Mindfulness—the unconventional research of psychologist Ellen Langer

Psychologist Ellen Langer's unconventional research. Plus, read about applying mindfulness techniques to eating.

Explore More From Current Issue

Smiling woman stands beside a large skull in a display cabinet.

From competing in youth gymnastics to studying tetrapods, the Harvard curator has always chased her curiosity.

Three actors perform on stage, with one actor interacting closely with another, set against abstract backgrounds.

The play Spare Parts is a contemporary fable about the quest to live forever.

Modern building with large glass windows, surrounded by greenery and pedestrians.

A roundup of University news from the summer of 2026