Lady Haden-Guest, the wife of crossbench hereditary peer Lord Haden-Guest of Essex, made her first visit to the Lords on Tuesday to see the Queen perform the state opening of parliament.

Nothing unusual in that you might think, after all many peers take their wives to hear the Queen's speech and see the pageantry, in what is the most colourful day in the parliamentary year.

But this peer's wife is better known as the Hollywood movie star Jamie Lee-Curtis, star of such films as a Fish Called Wanda and Halloween.

Lady Jamie, whose husband is a film director and writer, looked stunning in a gold laurel leaf tiara and elegant two-piece full length champagne-coloured silk suit.

Leaving parliament with the spectacle over she told BBC News: "The sense of history that I was able to participate in is obviously something I'll never be able to experience again and it was worth coming over for."

But one of the government's proposals may not have met with her complete approval. Her husband stands to lose his voting rights in the Lords as Labour prepares to abolish the voting rights of hereditary peers, but the film star showed she was ever the diplomat.

"I'm a big believer that change is always good. As long as it is done fairly I'm sure it will be fine."