Dame Judi Dench breaks down at the mention of her late friends Dame Maggie Smith and Barbara Leigh-Hunt

Dame Judi Dench broke down in tears after she was asked about her recently departed friends, Dame Maggie Smith and Barbara Leigh-Hunt.

Smith passed away last week while Leigh-Hunt, Dench's stage companion, died on September 16 at age 88.

Dench was asked by interviewer Brendan O'Hea about her late friends as she shared some personal anecdotes at the Cheltenham Literature Festival.

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"I know I probably shouldn't bring this up, I know the last week has been tricky for you because you lost your great friends Maggie Smith and Barbara Leigh-Hunt," O'Hea began.

He continued by asking her what she meant when she once compared grief to petrol when describing the loss of her husband, actor Michael Williams, in 2001.

"I suppose the energy that's created by grief..." Dench began before breaking down in tears and being unable to continue.

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Though she didn't mention her friends by name, she did share with the audience that the trees she plants in her Surrey home are in memory of her late loved ones.

Dench and Smith's friendship began in the 1950s after they first met backstage at the Old Vic theatre in London.

The friends had appeared on screen together several times throughout their long careers, including in A Room with a View (1985), Ladies in Lavender (2004), and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011).

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Following Smith's death, a playful exchange she shared with Dench circulated the internet as fans remembered their friendship.

The actresses starred alongside Dame Joan Plowright in Tea with the Dames in 2018, looking back on their careers.

"We're going to work forever if we're asked," Dench had remarked, only for Smith to return with a playful jab, telling Dench, "But you're always asked first, if I may say so."

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Dench was taken aback by Smith's statement, warning her, "Don't turn on me"

But Smith continued, "I'm turning on you now. It's all coming out now."

Plowright, who joined the conversation late due to her hearing aid going out, even jokingly recalled her American agent telling her they'll "look around for a nice little cameo that Judi Dench hasn't got her paws on."

Meanwhile, Leigh-Hunt, who is known for playing Brenda in Alfred Hitchcock's 1972 film Frenzy, was so close to the actress that she was even asked to be the godmother to her daughter Finty Williams.

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