Sir Ian McKellen has been called upon to return his knighthood after he accused the late Queen of being 'rude' and 'quite mad.' 

The veteran actor made the remarks during a recent newspaper interview. He said: 'The Queen, I'm sure she was quite mad at the end. And on the few occasions I met her she was quite rude.'

Now his comments have received criticism from royal experts who have even gone as far to suggest the actor should return his knighthood. 

Sir Ian received the honour in services to performing arts in 1991. Then 17 years later in 2008 the late monarch appointed him Companion of Honour for his services to drama and equality.

Speaking to The Daily Express, Royal biographer Margaret Holder said: 'Perhaps if Sir Ian feels so slighted by the Queen he could consider returning his knighthood, although he may regret that in the future.'

Dickie Arbiter, the late Queen’s official spokesman between 1988 and 2000 and one of her close confidants, questioned why Sir Ian had even accepted the award. 

Speaking in the same interview, the Lord of the Rings actor recalled a conversation Queen when he received his award in 2008. 

The 85-year-old recollected that the Queen said “You’ve been doing this for an awfully long time.”  To which he responded: 'Well not as long as you.' 

'I got a royal smile for that, but then she said, "Does anyone still actually go to the theatre?"' he said. 

Sir Ian says he found the interaction 'bloody rude.' 

He added: 'It meant, "Does anyone care a f*** about you because I don’t. Now off you go!”’

However, Sir Ian's claims have been challenged by royal biographer Christopher Wilson who questioned if there were any recorded instances of the Queen being rude to anyone. 

Sir Ian almost turned down his knighthood but was convinced to accept it by fellow actor Michael Cashman who told him it would open doors. 

He said: 'I mean, look at Sir Keir Starmer. A big part of his success was that the BBC had to keep calling him "Sir Keir". It made him sound terribly respectable. Poor old Boris Johnson doesn’t even have an MBE.'