Have you seen Maggie Smith’s advertising campaign for the fashion house Loewe? I can’t stop looking; I’m rapt. The styling, clothes and bags in Juergen Teller’s pictures are perfect. Whether she is snuggled in a huge brown, shaggy coat or reclining regally on a sofa in a black-and-white ruffled dress, Smith looks as if she is loving every second.
Crucially, she also looks her 88-year-old self – magnificently, imperiously, but relatably so. She is like your most glamorous aunt, the one people talk about in hushed, slightly scandalised tones. As someone online said, you can just imagine she is about to unclip the exquisite handbag she is clutching and hand you a crisp £20. I imagine she would smell of Sobranies and Rive Gauche and drink brandy and ginger. (I don’t think she actually does, but each to their own fantasy aunt.)
