Actress Emma Thompson is upset she missed Royal pal Prince Charles' 60th birthday celebrations in England to promote her new film Last Chance Harvey. The Oscar winner admits she had to turn down the chance to celebrate with the heir to the British throne on Friday - because she had prior commitments in America.

She explains, "He's an old friend and indeed I should've been at his 60th birthday, but I was in L.A. I nearly went back, but I thought. 'I'm gonna die, I'll just be jet-lagged and useless'."

But she's using interviews to send her birthday wishes to Charles - and to remind the world what a great man he is.

She adds, "I love him and he's a remarkable guy who just spends his entire time working to make the world slightly less tricky to be in. At the moment, he's really pushing saving the rainforests. He's terrified about that because we're destroying them at such a rate. Everything he said when he was a young man - that he was ridiculed for by the British press - is all coming to pass, and everyone is saying the exact same things now. He's a very clear-sighted and, in consequence, rather depressed man, but he's much loved by many, and especially by me."