Laurie Sparham / The Weinstein Company / Everett Collection
That sigh of relief you just heard? It came from everyone involved in Oscar’s front-running film. And now that Her Majesty has given The King’s Speech two thumbs up, nothing can get in its way.
The Queen recently had a private screening of The King’s Speech, the British movie with 12 Oscar nominations (and a clutch of other awards) already to its name. And the pressure must have been on: Not only is the movie about Queen Elizabeth II’s father, King George VI, and his attempt to overcome a stutter in the buildup to his 1936 coronation, but it also portrays a young Elizabeth.
(More on TIME.com: Pictures of Lady Gaga meeting the Queen.)
Thankfully, Buckingham Palace sources said that the Queen found the film “moving,” with the Sun newspaper revealing that, “The Queen loves a good film.” NewsFeed is so taken by that quote that we would like nothing more than for the Queen’s annual Christmas speech to include her top 10 movies of the year because the opportunity to hear HRH say that, “The Social Network resonated on many levels but one was pleased that poking wasn’t involved,” is simply too good to pass up.
(More on TIME.com: TIME’s top 10 movies of 2010.)
Back to reality and it transpires that two copies of the movie — after all, you can’t be too careful with her Royal Mail — were sent to the Queen at her Sandringham residence before Christmas. It is to be hoped that QEII, as with the rest of her loyal subjects, will be staying up through the night on February 27 to cheer on The King’s Speech to Oscar glory. A knighthood for Colin Firth just got that bit closer. (via Daily Mail)