Imelda Staunton felt "absolutely distraught" when Queen Elizabeth passed away

Speaking to The Independent, the actress explained: "I've got no claim to her at all, but I felt absolutely distraught.

"Dame Helen Mirren [who played Elizabeth in 'The Queen'] emailed me to say, 'I know how you're feeling.' So yes, it was very strange."

Imelda admitted to feeling inspired by the late monarch, who reigned for 70 years.

She said: "[The Queen] had this great ability to block everything out.

"I watched reams of old footage of her, and whenever she'd arrive somewhere in, ahem, the colonies, she'd be greeted by millions of people. Yet she would greet whoever she was there to meet straight on, like a horse with blinkers. She refused to be distracted. I thought, 'I'll hold on to that.'"

Imelda believes the Queen embodied a particular attitude and a particular era.

The actress said: "Whether you like it or not, this was a woman who got up every day and did that job, decade after decade, with such grace. In a titchy tiny weeny way, it's like doing a theatre job for eight months: you just do it."

However, Imelda believes the Queen's outlook contrasts sharply with the young performers of today.

The veteran actress - who starred alongside the likes of Jonathan Pryce, Lesley Manville, Jonny Lee Miller, Dominic West and Elizabeth Debicki on 'The Crown' - shared: "Of course, it's easier for my generation and the generation above me to say that, because we were brought up on theatre, and theatre gives you muscle; we did six years of rep with no understudy.

"So, when the younger generation of actors go, 'Oh, I'm a little bit tired,' I think, 'That's your loss.' Resilience in all parts of life is necessary.

"The Queen also had no choice; nor did the royal family. They were very unlucky to be born into it, which is something 'The Crown' showed very well."