On Thursday, 25 April 2025, the German Shakespeare Prize 2025 was awarded to the British actress Dame Harriet Mary Walter in the book cube of the Duchess Anna Amalia Library in Weimar

Walter, who has won numerous awards and been nominated for Tony and Emmy Awards, has achieved worldwide fame through her theatre career, particularly with the Royal Shakespeare Company, since the early 1980s. She is known to a wide audience for her roles in film and television productions such as Sense and Sensibility (1995), Downton Abbey (2013 – 2015), The Crown (2016) and Wolf Hall (2015).

The laudatory speech was held by director Phyllida Lloyd (CBE). Lloyd has worked closely with Walter and directed films such as Mamma Mia! (2008) and The Iron Lady (2011), in which Meryl Streep won an Oscar for her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher.

Every two years, the German Shakespeare Foundation honours personalities from the fields of art and culture who have rendered outstanding services to the work of William Shakespeare with this internationally oriented prize. The award ceremony takes place on the eve of the Shakespeare Days 2025 (25 to 27 April), which are dedicated to the topic of “Shakespeare and popular cultures”.

Programme

– Greetings from the Lord Mayor of the City of Weimar, Peter Kleine
– Greetings from the Director of the Duchess Anna Amalia Library Reinhard Laube
– Greetings from the chair of the jury, Claudia Olk
– Laudation (in English) Phyllida Lloyd

Carolanne Wright and Patrick Pagels will accompany the evening with music.

In cooperation with the Klassik Stiftung Weimar.