Los Angeles, Sept 7 : Veteran actor Ian McKellen, who recently called the late Queen Elizabeth II "rude" and "quite mad', has been receiving calls to return his Knighthood for his comments.

The Royal experts believe that the actor went too far in his criticism of the late queen of UK and he should return his Knighthood over his comments, 'Mirror.co.uk' reported.

In a recent interview, the senior actor said, "The Queen, I'm sure she was quite mad at the end. And on the few occasions I met her, she was quite rude."

The actor was honoured with Knighthood in 1991 for his services to performing arts. Seventeen years later in 2008, McKellen was appointed a Companion of Honour by the Queen for his services to drama and equality.

Speaking to 'The Daily Express', Royal biographer Margaret Holder said, "Perhaps if Sir Ian feels so slighted by the Queen, he could consider returning his Knighthood, although he may regret that in the future."

As per 'Mirror.co.uk', the Queen's official spokesman Dickie Arbiter, who worked for the monarch between 1988 and 2000, questioned why "Sir Ian had even accepted the award".

In the interview, 'The Lord Of The Rings' star recalled his encounter with the Queen, saying that she told him: 'You've been doing this for an awfully long time', to which he responded: "Well not as long as you."

He continued: "I got a royal smile for that, but then she said, 'Does anyone still actually go to the theatre?'"

The actor then admitted finding the conversation "bloody rude", claiming that in his view, it meant, "Does anyone care a f*** about you because I don't. Now off you go."

McKellen also claimed that he had almost turned down the Knighthood but decided that he would in fact accept it after his fellow actor Michael Cashman pointed out to him that it would help open doors for him.

/IANS