CATE BLANCHETT - CATE BLANCHETT NAMED BEST ONSCREEN MONARCH

CATE BLANCHETT NAMED BEST ONSCREEN MONARCH

Australian actress Cate Blanchett has been voted the best royal in film for her portrayal of English monarch Elizabeth I, in a new poll.

The Oscar winner narrowly defeated Dame Helen Mirren's portrayal of Elizabeth II in The Queen to top the lovefilm.com survey held to mark the release of The Young Victoria.

Sean Connery was named in third for his cameo as King Richard in 1991's Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves while nine per cent of respondents picked Dame Judi Dench for her performance in Mrs Brown (1997).

Anne Hathaway was named in fifth for The Princess Diaries but her co-star Julie Andrews missed out as did Natalie Portman for The Other Boleyn Girl.

"Us Brits are a bunch of royalists at heart, so there's always a lot of anticipation for [The Young Victoria]," said Fliss White of lovefilm.com.

"With a huge amount of pressure on the actors to get the portrayal just right, it's a great achievement to see Cate at number one - clearly Emily Blunt has a lot to live up to!"

The top ten film royals are as follows:

1 Cate Blanchett, Elizabeth (1998) - 19 per cent
2 Helen Mirren, The Queen (2006) - 17 per cent
3 Sean Connery, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991) - 10 per cent
4 Judi Dench, Mrs Brown (1997) - 9 per cent
5 Anne Hathaway, The Princess Diaries (2001) - 7 per cent
6 Judi Dench, Shakespeare in Love (1998) - 6 per cent
7 Leonardo DiCaprio, The Man in the Iron Mask (1998) - 5 per cent
8 Chris Sarandon, The Princess Bride (1987) - 4 per cent
9 Keira Knightley, The Duchess (2008) - 3 per cent
10 Kenneth Branagh, Henry V (1989) - 2 per cent