Well, this is a hot take from a British elder statesman!

Sir Ian McKellen just spilled the tea on what Queen Elizabeth II was REALLY like — and it wasn’t great! In a candid chat with The Times over the weekend, the Lord of the Rings star had some choice words when recalling his interactions with the late queen, saying:

“The Queen, I’m sure she was quite mad at the end. And on the few occasions I met her she was quite rude.”

Really?? A KNIGHT is saying this? Damn…

The 85-year-old recalled being honored with the Companion of Honour award in 2008, sharing:

“When I received a medal for acting [the Companion of Honour in 2008], she said, ‘You’ve been doing this for an awfully long time.’”

He gave it right back to her, joking:

“Well, not as long as you.”

Feisty as ever, he recalled Elizabeth’s reaction:

“I got a royal smile for that, but then she said, ‘Does anyone still actually go to the theatre?’”

Whoa, WHAT! She really wanted to jab him for the elderly joke! He explained:

“That’s bloody rude when you’re giving someone a medal for acting. It meant, ‘Does anyone care a f**k about you because I don’t. Now off you go!’”

LOLz!

Hey, if you dish it out you gotta be able to take it, too — especially when dealing with someone who supposedly loved a lil drama every now and then! You would have never known all that was happening at the moment, though! Just look:

Ian’s complaints about the royal family don’t end there, either. He went on to claim everyone in the family is living a tortured life, including the former monarch’s late husband Prince Philip. He added:

“Hats off to anyone who manages to stay sane in that world. Like the [late] Duke of Edinburgh managed to do, although even he was deeply, deeply eccentric and I suspect deeply unhappy.”

Jeez!! Reflecting on the current state of the monarchy, Ian doubled down on King Charles III:

“Same with the present king. He sort of survives, but he is clearly damaged.”

Yikes! We wonder why he thinks that??

Sir Ian didn’t elaborate, but elsewhere, the UK outlet noted the X-Men alum had a copy of Prince Harry‘s memoir Spare open on his table during the interview and even declared that he is “most definitely on Harry’s side” of the royal feud. He explained:

“Imagine being born into the royal family. I’ve been in public life a bit, but these people are in prison. They can’t do anything normal. Can you imagine having to be nice to everyone you talk to?”

Well, apparently not all of them are so good at that, as his previous story demonstrated. Hah!

Despite being Team Harry, even Ian didn’t have all complimentary things to say about the Duke of Sussex, speculating that the 39-year-old is “probably not bright enough or doesn’t have the right friends to really help himself.” But referencing Meghan Markle, he continued:

“Mind you, he had the pick of all the pretty women in the world. I hope he’s got the right one.”

Uhhh, even that sounds a bit shady!! Damn, we knew Sir Ian loved drama, but we didn’t realize he loves DRAMA!!! AH-Mazing!