London - She has been lauded as the most successful English actress of her generation.
But when Oscar-winner Kate Winslet met the Queen on Wednesday, all the two women wanted to do was talk about their children.
Recounting the moment she received her CBE for services to drama, the 37-year-old star said: “It was such an honour to meet the Queen, it was my first time.
“She told me she was delighted to be presenting me with my award and then asked whether I liked my job. I told her that I loved it but I love being a mom even more.
“The Queen said, ‘Yes, that’s the only job which matters’. What a genuinely lovely thing to say! And I couldn’t agree with her more.”
But Winslet, who was accompanied to Buckingham Palace by her children Mia, 12, and eight-year-old Joe, added: “That said, I didn’t dare look over at them in case one of them had their finger up their nose or something!”
Winslet, who has always seen herself as something of a poster girl for “natural women”, looked trim in a stunning black Alexander McQueen suit.
Her feathery hat by British milliner Natalie Ellner for Ellsewhere was something of a bold choice, however – not least because from the wrong angle, it appeared as if a magpie had landed on her head.
Mia is her daughter from her first marriage to director Jim Threapleton. The couple married in 1998 but amicably divorced three years later. In 2003 she married Sam Mendes, director of the latest James Bond film Skyfall. They had Joe together but announced their surprise separation in 2010.
It is believed that the actress was accompanied to the Palace her new boyfriend, Ned Rocknroll. The 34-year-old nephew of Sir Richard Branson changed his surname from Abel Smith by deed poll.
Winslet starred in Titanic in 1997 and was nominated for six Academy Awards before finally winning the best actress Oscar for The Reader in 2008.
Also receiving an honour was Take That singer Gary Barlow, who was given the OBE for services to the entertainment industry and to charity.
Barlow masterminded the Diamond Jubilee concert, staged at the Palace earlier this year, and co-wrote the jubilee anthem, Sing, with Lord Lloyd-Webber. - Daily Mail