Miriam Margolyes will guest star as Queen Victoria in the new series of \'The Windsors\'.
The 78-year-old actress is overjoyed to play one of her "heroes" in the upcoming series of the satirical comedy series and only hopes the formidable monarch - who died in 1901 aged 81 - would forgive her "irreverent portrayal" of her.
She said: "Queen Victoria has always been one of my heroes. I hope she\'ll forgive my irreverent portrayal."
The \'Call the Midwife\' star appears when Wills (Hugh Skinner) is left torn when the older royals decide to go on strike and Charles (Harry Enfield) urges him to join on, prompting him to seek advice by a portrait of Victoria.
Elsewhere, Julia Deakin and Simon Day will also guest star in the show as Carole and Mike Middleton.
They will appear when Charles and Camilla (Haydn Gwynne) reluctantly agree to visit them with Wills and Kate (Louise Ford).
Drama ensues when Charles thinks he hears Mike threatening to chop off his and Camilla\'s heads, prompting his wife to take matters into her own hands and come up with a murderous plan of her own.
Julia said: "I am shocked they let me have a go at this. I love the show and everyone wonders how they get away with it, the answer is...because it\'s funny!
"Carole is a gift, an enigma wrapped in a riddle. So little footage of her actually speaking exists! Less is definitely more.
"\'The Windsors\' version is far from this. Mix Carole and Mike on a weekend with Camilla and Prince Charles. Oh dear!"
Simon added: "Great to be appearing in The Windsors as Mike Middleton. I never thought I would get this close to the royal family."
\'The Windsors\' series 3 will air from 25 February at 10pm on Channel 4 and all episodes will be available to stream on All4.
