Now THAT'S how to grow old gracefully: As she happily goes make-up free at 69, how Helen Mirren's faced up to ageing

Left: Aged nine, rosy-cheeked and playing the lead in a school production of Hansel & Gretel. Right: At 19, fresh-faced in 1964, she’s a budding star of the National Youth Theatre

Left: At 21, poised and confident, with newly-blonde hair, playing Cleopatra at the Old Vic. Right: At 22, less styled, with long, untrimmed hair and happy to be pictured without make-up

Left: Still 22 . . . but with a new style - looking like Brigitte Bardot, and set to make her first film. Right: At 24, with a hippy-chic centre-parting, she’s now the youngest actress at the RSC

Left: At 25, dramatically different, she’s brunette with a sensible fringe and pale lipstick. Right: At 26, pouting sexily, and wearing lashings of eyeliner to bring out her startling eyes

Left: At 28, bright lipstick, feline eye make-up, a challenging stare and cascades of hair. Right: At 30, a month before her 31st birthday in 1976, dewy skin and a full, sweeping fringe

Left: At 33, playing a prostitute in the film Hussy, with a ginger perm and pencil-thin brows. Right: At 39, Helen’s fair hair and low-key make-up complement her sensuous features

Left: At 40: Barely recognisable in 1985 — and unusually looking her age — with tight curls. Right: At 42, a more casual shoulder-length style, with tousled waves — and that sultry look

Left: At 43, star of the macabre 1989 film The Cook, The Thief, His Wife And Her Lover. Right: At 46, her ground-breaking TV role as the unsmiling DCI Jane Tennison in Prime Suspect

Left: At 48, relaxed and natural in 1993, the year she declared she had ‘no maternal instincts’. Right: At 51, a businesslike bob after she married Taylor Hackford. They’d been together 11 years

Left: At 52, looking markedly straggly — and her age — for her television series Painted Lady. Right: At 53, now she adopts a fashionable choppy fringe that highlights her twinkling eyes

Left: At 54, a softer style, with a chic blow-dry and summery glow, keeps her look youthful. Right: At 55, Helen opts for swept-back hair and subtle make-up for an awards ceremony

Left: At 58, series six of Prime Suspect launches and she’s now a very sleek Superintendent. Right: At 59, she dazzles in 2005 with dark eyeliner and lipstick as glossy as her blonde bob

Left: At 61, yes, into her 60s! The fringe is gone —to be replaced by a short pixie-style cut. Right: At 62, for 2007, Helen has bright red lips, glowing tan and longer, more demure hair

Left: At 63, a flattering feathered fringe and rosy glow at the State Of Play premiere. Right: At 65, her hair is whiter, her tan deeper and lips brighter for a swish party in New York

Left: At 67, she can’t be that old! Luminous skin and classic looks make her seem far younger. Right: At 68, never one to follow the crowd, she tries a Pepto-Bismol pink do for the Baftas

She’s 70 next month! All glammed up to receive a Tony Award last weekend (left) then a day later (right) she is out and about with no make-up . . . but is still looking fantastic