Judi Dench reveals her secret tribute to Maggie Smith in unseen BBC interview - three months after the Harry Potter star's death
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Dame Judi Dench has paid a heartfelt tribute to her late friend and fellow actress, Dame Maggie Smith. The late star, who enjoyed a celebrated career spanning more than 60 years, died aged 89 in September this year. In a new interview for a BBC tribute to Maggie, Judi revealed that she continues a deeply sentimental tradition of planting individual trees in memory of her late friends.
![[The late star (left), who enjoyed a celebrated career spanning more than 60 years, died aged 89 in September this year]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/28/21/93545971-14232557-The_late_star_left_who_enjoyed_a_celebrated_career_spanning_more-m-100_1735422259542.jpg)
Judi has a private forest at her home in Surrey and previously shared that each tree serves as a tribute to loved ones, including Alan Rickman, Helen McCrory, Diana Rigg, and her late husband, Michael Williams. While reflecting on Maggie's legacy, the actress mentioned that her gardener recently discovered the sapling she planted for Maggie had borne fruit.
![[Judi and Maggie have appeared on stage and on screen together several times]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/28/21/90497671-14232557-Judi_Dench_and_Maggie_Smith_have_appeared_on_stage_and_on_screen-a-95_1735422093524.jpg)
'Joe, who works for me, came in and he had one little crab apple,' Judi told the BBC. Dame Judi Dench has paid a heartfelt tribute to her late friend and fellow actress, Dame Maggie Smith. The late star (left), who enjoyed a celebrated career spanning more than 60 years, died aged 89 in September this year.
![[Judi and Maggie in 'Ladies in Lavender', 2004]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/28/21/90499439-14232557-Judi_Dench_and_Maggie_Smith_in_Ladies_in_Lavender_2004-a-96_1735422098692.jpg)
'And so I had it in my pocket at her funeral, which was a very nice thing to have,' she added. Judi and Maggie's friendship started way back in 1957 when they first met in a dressing room at the Old Vic theatre. They went on to work with each other on several occasions, including in the 1984 film A Private Function and in 1999’s Tea With Mussolini.
![[Back in October, Judi choked up on stage at the Cheltenham Literature Festival after she was asked about her late friends Maggie and Barbara Leigh-Hunt (pictured with Maggie in 2004)]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/28/21/90497679-14232557-Maggie_Smith_and_Judi_Dench_pictured_together_in_2004-a-97_1735422138436.jpg)
