'It was not my destiny' - Helen Mirren famously never wanted children and has no 'regret'

Helen Mirren has no 'regret' over not having children - and feels it 'wasn't her destiny', despite what other people might think.

We could talk for hours about how much we love Helen Mirren. She is one of our positive ageing heroes and simply isn't interested in being young, choosing instead to focus on the many benefits of older age.

She also perfectly balances her issues with the word 'beauty' with still wanting to experiment with makeup - just for herself and not to please anyone else - and many of her beauty looks from over the years are totally unforgettable. Oh, and let's not forget she's an absolute style icon.

Alongside her inspiring views on ageing and body positivity, Helen has always firmly lived life her own way, and that includes making the choice not to have children. This can be a difficult decision for some women, who face a barrage of questions over remaining child free and are somehow made to feel less of a woman.

Helen has previously made it clear that she really isn't concerned with what anyone thinks about her not having any offspring, and is open about the reasons for it.

In a 2016 interview with The Sunday Times, the actress explained that she almost never feels regret or sadness over not having had children - and always put her career before any pressure to start a family. Although there was one short moment that made her sad to have missed out on motherhood.

"I never felt the need for a child and never felt the loss of it. . .I’d always put my work before anything."

She added, "I have never had a moment of regret about not having children," and is "quite relieved" it never happened.

Of course, Helen is human and part of the beauty of the human condition is that emotions can step in and mix things up. They did in Helen's case - but only for the shortest time.

Helen recalls suddenly wondering whether she'd made the right choice when watching the film Parenthood, starring Steve Martin, Mary Steenburgen. She found herself suddenly grappling with complicated feelings about not being a parent, revealing, "I sobbed for the loss of [the chance at parenthood] and the fact that I never experienced it."

However, after 20 minutes of questioning herself, those feelings subsided and she returned once again to feeling sure of her decision. "It was not my destiny," she says candidly, adding, "I kept thinking it would be, waiting for it to happen, but it never did, and I didn’t care what people thought.

"It was only boring old men [who would ask me]. And whenever they went, ‘What? No children? Well, you’d better get on with it, old girl,’ I’d say ‘No! F*** off!’"

Helen has an incredible legacy without children and it will live on in the amazing work she's done as an actress, and the charity work she's undertaken for the likes of Refuge and Age UK.

Confident that legacy isn't about continuing bloodlines but can be about personal achievements, Helen concludes, "I can watch film of Ingrid Bergman, [Katherine] Hepburn - you look and say, ‘She was brilliant!’ So I would like people to say that about me."