A fine romance DAME JUDI READY TO WED

How losing her sight has given the acting legend clarity in love

-  Judy Kean

She doesn't like the word partner, so she describes him as her "chap". Dame Judi Dench has been in a relationship with David Mills for the past 13 years and for most of that time has been adamant that marriage is not an option.

"No, no, no, no, no!" the acclaimed actress said when asked about the prospect of a wedding a couple of years ago. "Let's just pull ourselves together and be our age!"

But lately there have been whispers that the couple who live in separate homes 6km apart - might just be considering saying "I do".

A friend of the couple says Judi, 88, has been talking about marriage because she's so happy with the farmer-turned-conservationist.

"He adores her and wants to look after her. She's very lucky to have him." David, 77, has already been stepping up to help Judi in recent years, as she has advanced macular degeneration, which means her eyesight has deteriorated to the point where she can no longer see very well at all. In a recent interview, the Oscar winner admitted, "I can't see on a film set anymore and I can't see to read. So I can't see much. But you know, you just deal with it. Get on."

Her vision problems have affected her acting career and restrict what roles she can take on, but she's refusing to let them stop her from doing the job she loves. She has to accept help from others, including David and her actress daughter Finty Williams, 50, who lives with her, to read her scripts to her so she can memorise lines that way.

While she's 'grateful for the assistance, she doesn't like having to rely on others. "It's terrible to be so dependent on people. Ghastly. It's the most terrible shock to the system." She recently revealed that on a night out, when she was unable to see the food on her plate, David helped out so she could enjoy the meal. "He cut it up and handed something to me on a fork and that's the way I ate it," tells Judi.