In a touching and heartfelt tribute, Dame Judi Dench recently revealed a deeply personal memorial to her close friend and fellow actress, Dame Maggie Smith, who passed away in September at the age of 89.

Judi has honored her friends by planting individual trees in their memory when they pass away. Upon the day of Dame Maggie’s funeral, a remarkable occurrence took place. Her gardener, Joe, discovered that the sapling she planted for Maggie had unexpectedly borne fruit.

“Joe, who works for me, came in and he had one little crab apple,” Dame Judi recounted to the BBC. “And so I had it in my pocket at her funeral, which was a very nice thing to have.”

Their friendship spanned over six decades, intertwined with their groundbreaking careers on both stage and screen. It all began in 1957, when they first met in a dressing room at The Old Vic theatre.

Their collaboration continued throughout their illustrious careers, bringing them together in memorable roles in films such as A Room With A View in 1985, Ladies in Lavender in 2004, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel in 2011, and the sequel, The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel in 2015.

In a separate interview for the BBC’s Lives Well Lived series, their mutual friend and director Charles Dance recalled their remarkable performances. “I had Judi Dench and Maggie Smith – I could have shot the telephone directory with those two. They just went for it,” he said.

Dance described the banter between the two, recounting a humorous scene where Dench attempted to outrun Smith on stage, leading to Smith saying, “stop pushing me, stop pushing me!” All of this was ad-libbed, adding a touch of spontaneity to their acting.

Dame Maggie Smith was celebrated not only for her impeccable comic timing but also for her sharp wit and memorable lines from iconic roles like Lady Grantham in Downton Abbey and Professor McGonagall in the Harry Potter series.

According to Samantha Bond, who co-starred with Smith in Downton Abbey, new performers sometimes struggled to distinguish between the actress and her character. “I think, perhaps, they got confused about whether she was the actor or whether she was the dowager… If she’s just playing Maggie, then it’s fun – it’s real fun, with a lot of laughs,” Bond shared.

Dame Judi shared a more personal perspective on her late friend: “Oh, she could be very scary. No question, she could be quite frightening. Get on the wrong side of Mags…” she chuckled. “But, oh, we had such good times.”

“I have known her for a long, long time. Very, very funny and unbelievably witty and formidable. But a really, really sweet and special friend.”