Ian McKellen Dishes Unfiltered Opinions on 'Rude' Queen Elizabeth, 'Damaged' King Charles

Ian McKellen may have "Sir" in his title, but he's not a fan of the British Royal Family ... sharing some unfiltered opinions about the late Queen Elizabeth II and her son, King Charles III.

The British actor, who was knighted by the former queen in 1991, sounded off on the Windsors in a new interview with the UK's The Times ... in which he blasted the deceased monarch as being quite "rude," and "quite mad at the end."

As Ian recalls, the longest reigning British monarch made a comment about his career when he received the Companion of Honor medal in 2008 ... telling him he'd "been doing this an awfully long time."

Ian replied with a remark of his own, joking that he hadn't been working "as long as" Elizabeth ... who didn't seem to love the quip.

Per Ian, she allegedly hit back with "a royal smile" and the question ... "Does anyone still actually go to the theatre?"

He continues ... "That’s bloody rude when you’re giving someone a medal for acting. It meant, ‘Does anyone care a f*** about you because I don’t. Now off you go!'"

The incident clearly left a poor taste in Ian's mouth ... and he had plenty to say about other royal members. He blasted Prince Philip -- the queen's longtime consort, who died at age 99 in 2021 -- as "deeply, deeply eccentric" and "deeply unhappy."

Ian is equally unimpressed with their eldest son, King Charles ... who he said is "sort of" surviving in the monarchy and "is clearly damaged."

As for Prince Harry, one of Charles' 2 sons, who infamously walked away from his role as a working royal with his wife, Meghan Markle, 4 years ago ... Ian declared he was "most definitely" on his side regarding his feuds with both the Royal Family and the British press.

Though, even amid his praise of Harry, he couldn't help but dish out some criticism of Prince William's brother ... speculating aloud that the Duke of Sussex was "probably not bright enough."