Britain is ‘cruel and angry’, says Helen Mirren

Helen Mirren, the actress who won an Oscar for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II, has attacked modern Britain as being ‘angry’ and ‘cruel’, and said she would feel more at home in France.

She also said that the tradition of British decency was declining.

“I”m under the impression that this notion is disappearing from our society, where conflicts are made worse on cinema and on television, where people are nasty and cruel on the internet and where, in general terms, everybody seems to me to be very angry,” The Telegraph quoted Mirren as telling a French magazine.

“This causes me a lot of pain,” she added.

“I prefer the finesse of French humour. English humour is harsher, more scathing, more cruel and more surreal too, as illustrated by Monty Python and the TV series Little Britain, where situations are far-fetched and over-the-top,” Mirren said.

The 65-year-old actress said her home country had become too Americanised.

“England is constantly threatened by a savage assimilation. This isn”t the case with France which remains furiously protective of its culture,” she said.