Playing Queen: Dame Helen Mirren Steps in to Grant a Dying Boy’s wish

Visiting the Queen at Buckingham Palace topped his list of dream activities — but his family was told a meeting would not be possible.

So Dame Helen stepped in, bringing him in a limo to see her West End show The Audience — in which she plays the Queen — then taking him backstage to meet her corgis.

The actress, 67, even KNIGHTED the excited schoolboy “Sir Oliver” during his visit, telling The Sun: “It was a pleasure and a privilege to meet such a brave young man.” Oliver, from Leicester, was first diagnosed with leukaemia in 2006, aged three. He recovered but in 2010 the cancer returned — and once again he pulled through.

Then last Christmas he was diagnosed with cancer in his spine and bone marrow — and this time intensive treatment is not possible, so he returned home with his mum, dad, and brother Ethan, six. The family has raised £10,000 for special trips for Oliver through the National Children’s Tumour Leukaemia Cancer Trust, which arranged the visit with Dame Helen.