Dame Judi Dench has paid a heartfelt tribute to her late friend and fellow actress, Dame Maggie Smith.
The late star, who enjoyed a celebrated career spanning more than 60 years, died aged 89 in September this year.
In a new interview for a BBC tribute to Maggie, Judi revealed that she continues a deeply sentimental tradition of planting individual trees in memory of her late friends.
Judi has a private forest at her home in Surrey and previously shared that each tree serves as a tribute to her loved ones, including Alan Rickman, Helen McCrory, Diana Rigg and her late husband, Michael Williams.
While reflecting on Maggie’s legacy, the actress mentioned that her gardener recently discovered that the sapling he planted for Maggie had borne fruit.
“Joe, who works for me, came and had a little crab apple,” Judi told the BBC.
Dame Judi Dench has paid a heartfelt tribute to her late friend and fellow actress, Dame Maggie Smith.
The late star (left), who enjoyed a celebrated career spanning more than 60 years, died aged 89 in September this year.
“And so I had it in my pocket at his funeral, which was really nice to have,” he added.
Judi and Maggie’s friendship began back in 1957, when they met in a dressing room at the Old Vic theatre.
They continued to work together on several occasions, including in the 1984 film A Private Function and 1999’s Tea With Mussolini.
However,Their most famous collaboration was 1985’s A Room With a View.
The duo also co-starred in the 2004 1930s-set period drama Ladies in Lavender, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel in 2011, and its 2015 sequel The Second Best Marigold Hotel.
In October, Judi choked up on stage at the Cheltenham Literature Festival after being asked about her late friends Maggie and Barbara Leigh-Hunt.
Judi, who shared personal anecdotes during her performance at the literature festival, became emotional after interviewer Brendan O’Hea mentioned her dear friends who passed away in September.
“I know I probably shouldn’t mention this, I know the last week has been rough for you because you lost your great friends Maggie Smith and Barbara Leigh-Hunt,” he asked.
Judi and Maggie have appeared together on stage and screen several times.
Judi and Maggie in ‘Lavender Ladies’, 2004
He also asked her what she meant when she once compared pain to gasoline when talking about her husband, Michael Williams, who died of lung cancer in 2001.
“I guess the energy that creates pain…” he said, before bursting into tears.
Maggie’s death sparked an outpouring of grief among other actors and Harry Potter fans around the world, with Huge Bonneville leading tributes to a “true legend of his generation.”
The beloved star, known for her roles in the Harry Potter films and her incredible 70-year acting career, had been friends with Dench since the 1950s.
Speaking at a tribute event for Dench in 2002, Smith said: “What I remember most about that time is the beginning of a friendship, and I remember laughter more than anything in the world.”
‘Judi is the best friend. “She has been very supportive and very loyal.”
In October, Judi choked on stage at the Cheltenham Literature Festival after being asked about her late friends Maggie and Barbara Leigh-Hunt (pictured with Maggie in 2004).
The actress has spoken openly about her experiences of grief after tragically losing her husband Michael Williams, who was also an actor, more than 20 years ago.
The couple married in 1971 after co-starring in a stage production of The Duchess of Malfi and had a daughter, Finty.
After losing Williams to lung cancer, Judi admitted that she forced herself to work because “it helped me cope with the pain.”
‘Sometimes you have to do a play and it’s really painful. That said, I also found it incredibly cathartic,” he once said in an interview with The Times.
‘You become stronger and use what you are going through as energy. Like gasoline. It has helped me cope with the pain.’
Judi has been with her partner, wildlife conservationist David Mills, since 2010. She said in an interview with The Times that she never expected to find love again after her husband died.
The actress has spoken openly about her experiences of grief after tragically losing her husband Michael Williams, who was also an actor, more than 20 years ago.
Judi has been with her wildlife conservation partner David Mills since 2010 (pictured in 2021)
‘I wasn’t even prepared to be prepared for it. It was very, very gradual and adult. “It’s just wonderful.”
But after meeting David, she gushed to GoodHousekeeping in 2015, “It’s wonderful to be in love.” That state where you’re happy to see someone and they make you laugh and you just like being with that person.’
The couple met when Dench officiated at the opening of a new squirrel enclosure at the British Wildlife Center in Surrey.
Mills once joked that “she fell in love with my squirrels, not me.”