Helen's holiday rule: WE DON'T DO GIFTS IN OUR HOUSE!

The lucky star’s wish list has already been taken care of!

No matter where she is in the world, Christmas for Dame Helen Mirren just isn’t complete without a carol concert.

The veteran Calendar Girls actress – who splits her time between London, the US and Italy – loves the age-old tradition of carol singing and, of course, her Silent Night must be accompanied with a cup or two of mulled wine!

But her earliest memories of the season couldn’t be more different. The 75-year-old has spoken in the past about her no-frills childhood, revealing she had just one dress to wear apart from her school uniform, and it seems the festivities were equally as frugal in the Mirren household.

“My earliest Christmas memory is of making paper chain decorations,” says Helen. “My mother would buy the coloured strips, and we would lick them and then stick them together. This was the extent of our Christmas decorations, with a tree, of course, hung with walnuts we had painted silver among some other ancient ornaments.

“Our Christmas stockings would always have a tangerine in the toe. It was the only time in the year we would have tangerines.”

These days, Helen and her film director husband Taylor Hackford, 75, experience different festivities, depending on where in the world they find themselves.

“In the UK, the turkey takes control of the day. A walk is part of the tradition too. My husband and I have spent some Christmases in Italy, where dinner is a big family affair with many courses – and no turkey!