ARDENT fans of our esteemed monarch could be a tad nervous this week. For a start, they may well be concerned that Helen Mirren’s continuing popularity as a Queen impersonator is detracting from the public adulation traditionally enjoyed by the real-life royal.

Certainly, Dame Helen has done a convincing job in the regal role, first in the 2006 film The Queen and currently in the stage play The Audience. The awards have rightly flowed for this finest of British thespians, but one wonders what the real Queen makes of it all.

Perhaps there may even be a little bit of jealousy on the part of Her Majesty. It may be an unreasonable assump-tion to make, but it might be the reason why she agreed to play the part of James Bond’s sidekick for the Olympic opening ceremony.

Dame Helen has never played a Bond Girl, so in a sense the real Queen got one up on her with the surprise performance.

It’s possible Her Majesty is jealous, too, of her eldest son’s extra-royal performances, first as a weatherman and more recently as guest editor of Countryfile. She could well be worried what he’ll do next to perpetuate his on-screen profile.

One wonders how the Queen would react, for example, if Prince Charles were to appear as a guest on Coronation Street. Would she view the title of the soap as a not-so-subtle hint that she should hand over her crown forthwith?

This nicely brings me to another reason why UK royal watchers might be anxious this week - the perfectly sensible abdication decision by Holland’s Queen Beatrix in favour of her son Prince Willem-Alexander.

But they needn’t worry. Because of her admirable devotion to duty, our Queen would never give up the throne, which means Charles will have to continue exercising patience - and Dame Helen will have to postpone any thought of retirement.