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

Trump Administration Asks Appeals Court to Restore Harvard Funding Cuts

The government’s lawyers homed in on a jurisdictional argument for its authority to to terminate federal grants. 

Three Harvard Alumni and a Former Postdoc Named MacArthur Fellows

A labor economist, an organic chemist, a physicist, and a memory researcher were honored with 2026 “genius” grants.

At Harvard’s IOP, Two Views of Diversity Get a Hearing

Professor Cornell William Brooks and Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts hold a lively debate on DEI and Project 2025.

Most popular

Trump Administration Will Investigate Alleged Visa Fraud at Harvard

The announcement comes two days after a federal appeals court heard arguments about an international students ban.

Harvard Weathers a Year of Turmoil

The federal government has launched unprecedented actions against the University. Here’s a guide.

Lafayette’s Unexpected Gift to George Washington: Pheasants

The two birds will be on display at Harvard this summer.

Explore More From Current Issue

A woman with curly blonde hair sits casually against a stone wall, wearing a black top and jeans.

Chloe Chapin trains her Broadway costume designer’s eye on the history of men’s fashion.

A flooded office scene with computers, a woman working, and a pink sunset backdrop.

A College student’s attempt to recapture the romanticism of the workplace.

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.