Helen Mirren declares 2016 to have been 'a big pile of s***'

Dame Helen Mirren has summarised what a lot of people think about 2016 in one expletive-ridden sentence: “It’s been a big pile of s**t”.

The veteran actress will appear on the Graham Norton Show on Friday evening alongside Will Smith and Naomie Harris but one segment of the pre-taped talk show has already been released.

Asked by Norton to deliver a Christmas Day message in the style of Queen Elizabeth II, the actress revived her impersonation of the monarch for a no-nonsense, alternative message.

“Hello, at this time of celebration and togetherness, we have a chance to reflect on the year gone by. And I think we can all agree that 2016 has been a big pile of sh**,” she said to the delight of the audience before plugging her new film Collateral Beauty and dropping the mic, accordingly.

The past year has certainly gone down as one in which news events have been unprecedented, tragic and sometimes altogether shocking.

Starting in January with the deaths of beloved giants of entertainment such as David Bowie and Alan Rickman within a week of each other, soon enough people began noticing the amount of high-profile deaths in a particularly short space of time as Prince, Victoria Wood, Ronnie Corbett, Terry Wogan and Harper Lee all passed away.

Following this, the shock result of Britain leaving the EU after a referendum led to a period of political turmoil where the Prime Minister and majority of the cabinet were replaced as well as a period of economic uncertainty.

This period of turmoil reached new heights when billionaire business mogul and reality TV star Donald Trump was elected president of the United States, proving wrong commentators and pollsters alike.

In addition to the wave of terror attacks and wars across the world, many – including Dame Helen – appear to now be glad the final days of 2016 are approaching.

Roll on 2017.