Dame Judi Dench has revealed she drove without a full driving licence for 30 years, admitting the offence in her new memoir, Is It Too Late to Make a Run for It?.
The Oscar-winning actress, 91, says she continued to drive for decades after being caught by police and fined for driving offences, despite only holding a provisional licence.
Caught at Parliament Square
Dench, who played Queen Elizabeth I in Shakespeare in Love, recalls making journeys between London and Stratford in a black open-top MG sports car.
Speaking to fellow actor Brendan O'Hea, she says: "I really loved that car. It had a retractable roof, which wouldn’t close, and so I always drove round with a couple of handy sou’westers in the glove compartment in case it rained."
"And then I got caught going round Parliament Square."
When a police officer asked whether she had a licence, Dench replied that she only had a provisional one. The officer reported her for the offence, for having no L-plates, and for driving with a broken sidelight.
Letter to the court
"I think I was called to appear at Bow Street magistrates’ court - it was as serious as that," says Dench.
"Anyway, I tried my luck and I wrote a letter. ‘Dear Sir,’ I said, ‘on such-and-such a date I was stopped by the police and accused of not having L-plates. I did have L-plates — they were adhesive, but you know what the weather’s been like these days, my lord.’"
"I actually wrote that. I was still fined £2, which was a lot of money back then."
When O'Hea suggests she then drove for another ten years without a licence, Dench corrects him: "Don't be ridiculous. It wasn't ten; it was 30. I was 50 when I passed my test."
"I'm a good driver though," she added.
Bridge incident with husband
Elsewhere in the book, Dench recalls how one manoeuvre nearly brought on a panic attack, and how her late husband, actor Michael Williams, named the spot "Bum-clenching Bridge".
"It’s a single-lane bridge and no two cars had ever passed on it. Well, they hadn’t before I came along," she says.
"As I approached it, I saw another car heading towards us from the opposite direction. The other driver and I obviously had the same idea - that if we upped our speed we’d be able to cross the bridge in time and arrive safely on the other side."
"All I heard as I hit the accelerator was Mikey shouting, ‘Jude! Jude! JUDE!’ He just closed his eyes."
"But we made it. Didn’t even take off a wing mirror."
Is It Too Late to Make a Run for It? by Judi Dench with Brendan O’Hea (Penguin Michael Joseph, £25) is published on October 22.
