Dame Helen Mirren loves "everything" about being 80

Asked to name the best thing about being 80, Helen told Allure: "Everything! I find everything about it [fabulous].

"F*** it, I'm alive and I'm working and I can drink a glass of wine and I can wear makeup and I can listen to music and I can watch a beautiful sunset and I can go to the theatre and I can watch a movie and I can binge Netflix and I can live life. It's a beautiful thing."

Helen acknowledges that there are pros and cons to ageing. But the acclaimed actress has urged other women to not fear getting older.

Helen - who turned 80 in July - explained: "It's going to happen, baby. You can be as afraid as you like, but that's not going to change anything. It's going to happen. So live with it. It's your journey through life.

"My mom always said, don't ever be afraid of getting older. She said, when you're 16, the thought of being 30 - it's like 30, you're old! And you flounce around saying it's awful to be 30. And then you get to be 30. And you know what? It's great being 30, actually, I think 30 to 40 is the best age of all, and you do not want to be 16 again. It's fabulous, being 30, and likewise 40, 50, 60, and beyond."

Helen also observed that there's a "natural order of things".

She shared: "There are disadvantages, no question. But there are also great advantages. And you learn this as you travel through life.

"But I think it's perfectly natural and normal for a 16-year-old to be terrified of being 40 because you know, the world is their oyster at that moment. It's theirs for the taking. They are the generation who's going to take the world on. And I love them for that. And I applaud them. And I can't wait to see what they're going to make of the world. It's their turn.

"I've had my turn and now it's theirs. And that's the natural order of things."