Dame Maggie Smith has been named as the new face of the luxury Spanish fashion house Loewe.
The veteran of stage and screen, 88, delighted fans as she posed for a series of striking photographs while modelling the brand.
In one image, the Downton Abbey star wowed in a ruffled white dress layered over a black polo neck jumper and a burgundy handbag.
She beamed down the lens for a second snap where she layered up in a shaggy coat and carried a quirky olive handbag.
Loewe’s British creative director, Jonathan Anderson unveiled the images on Instagram, instantly sending followers wild.
Fans commented: ‘This is seriously the greatest thing I’ve ever seen’; ‘She just came and ATE the girls up on a side project!! ✨’; ‘Stoooop she’s everything! Dame everything ❤️’; ‘Genius! The best of the season x’; ‘this is pretty perfect’; ‘Love this gorgeous lady so much ❤️❤️’; ‘Love love love this!!! She’s a queen for sure and has good taste to boot’.
While Maggie proved to be the ultimate model, she shows no signs of slowing down in the acting world.
The Oscar-winning star’s career has continued to go from strength to strength and she recently enjoyed one of the most successful years of her career after making more than £2.3 million in 2021.
Accounts reveal that assets in her acting firm, Dame Margret Cross Productions, increased to £10.2 million including £9.8 million in cash reserves.
The five-time BAFTA winner made £1.6 million in profit through the business after allowing for bills of £1.6 million, with £8.7 million being retained for Dame Maggie.
The accounts came after she starred in Downton Abbey: A New Era, the second installment of the hugely popular 2019 Downton Abbey film, which came as a spin off from the ITV series.
Dame Maggie has played the role of Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham, throughout the entirety of the historical drama franchise.
She can currently be seen in cinemas in The Miracle Club, where she stars alongside Laura Linney, Kathy Bates and Stephen Rea.
The comedy-drama following a group of working-class women from Dublin on a pilgrimage to Lourdes in France.
Set in 1967, it follows the story of three generations of close friends: Lily (Smith), Eileen (Bates), and Dolly (O’Casey).
The trio live in ‘a hard-knocks community in Dublin’ named Ballygar and have a shared dream of winning a pilgrimage to Lourdes — ‘that place of miracles that draws millions of visitors each year’ — in France.
When they are met with opportunity to win and go to Lourdes, they seize the chance and start making a plan.
Right before they are set to travel there, however, their old friend Chrissie (Linney) arrives in Ballygar for her mother’s funeral.
Together, they set out on ‘the journey that they hope will change their lives, with Chrissie, a skeptical traveler, joining in place of her mother’.
The synopsis continues: ‘The glamour and sophistication of Chrissie, who has just returned from a nearly 40-year exile in the United States, are not her only distancing traits’.
In the end, ‘old wounds are reopened along the way, forcing the women to confront their pasts even as they travel in search of a miracle.’
