The BBC’s beloved series, Who Do You Think You Are? often turns up impressive family histories for its celebrity guests. Eastenders star Danny Dyer famously discovered he was related to royalty, via William the Conqueror, while Prime Minister Boris Johnson has ties to King George II. Now, Shakespeare enthusiast and national treasure, Dame Judi Dench, has discovered that she shares closer ties with the Bard than she first believed.
In the new series of the show, the 86-year-old travels to Kronborg Castle, which has widely been credited as the inspiration behind Hamlet’s castle in Shakespeare’s most famous play. While there, she discovers that her ten-times great-aunt was the lady-in-waiting to the Queen of Denmark, and would have resided in the palace. It’s a sweet link considering one of Dench’s most celebrated roles was that of Ophelia in Hamlet.
‘I’ve always wanted to visit Kronborg Castle and now not only have I visited it, but I have a link to it, too,’ she told Radio Times. ‘I hope my ten-times great-aunt liked the Bard. Knowing that Kempe visited the castle and presumably performed there does make me feel that I’m a step nearer to my beloved Shakespeare.’
It's not the Brit's only link to Denmark, as her six-times great-grandfather had married a Copenhagen native in the 1600s, leading her to dub herself a Dane. 'I just will never stop talking about it. Now I'm a Dane! Heaven!... I look in the mirror all the time now and think, “Aah, Scandinavia!”’
Dench has previously shared her love of Shakespeare, and has acted in many of his most famous plays, including Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth.
