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A group of noisy drummers were told to "shut the **** up" during a foul-mouthed rant - by the Queen.

For one terrible moment, the gobsmacked street musicians must have thought it really was Her Maj letting rip at them.

In fact it was Dame Helen Mirren dressed as the Queen for her role in West End play The Audience.

Dame Helen - who won an Oscar for her stunning portrayal in the 2006 film The Queen - was wearing her trademark royal outfit, complete with tiara and pearls.

She stormed out of the Gielgud Theatre, in London, in the middle of Saturday night's show to give the band a right royal rollicking.

Band organiser Joe O'Leary, said: "This little old lady came running out in a green dress, pearls and a tiara and headed for the conductor.

"She was saying, 'shut the f*** up, people have paid f***ing a hundred pounds for their theatre tickets'. She said the F-word about 20 times. I kept saying, 'we didn't realise' and she was like, 'just shut the f*** up'. You couldn't get a word in edgeways, she was proper on a rant."

(Image: Rex)

Mr O'Leary is the organiser of the As One In The Park gay music festival, which the musicians were promoting.

He said the 25 drummers, who had already paraded through nearby Soho before pausing on Rupert Street outside the Gielgud, promptly stopped playing and moved on.

Comedian Chris Dangerfield, who filmed the incident, told the Mirror: "I saw a women come out of the stage door and I knew it was Helen Mirren straight away.

"You could tell she was angry as she pushed her way through the crowds in a blue cardigan and confronted the conductor of the troupe.

"She was flailing her arms around and repeatedly gesturing towards the theatre."

Meanwhile, according to audience members, Dame Helen later announced on stage she had "sorted" the drummers using "some not polite language" during the interval.

Audience member Ruth Carnall said: "The drums were very irritating. When the play stopped because of a power cut in the second half she made witty remarks about that.

"Then she said, 'Oh and if you heard the noisy drums I sorted them dressed as the Queen using some not polite language'."

Fellow West End performer Andy Coxon, who is starring in Les Miserables nearby, praised her on Twitter: "Thanku to Helen Mirren for going out & telling the morons drumming furiously behind our theatres to stop! Everyone @lesmisofficial loves u."