LONDON — British royalty has met acting aristocracy, as Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II bestowed an honor on Maggie Smith during a ceremony at Windsor Castle.

Smith, who plays the imperious Dowager Countess of Grantham on “Downton Abbey,” was made a member of the Order of the Companions of Honor on Friday in recognition of her six decades in theater, cinema and television.

The award is limited to 65 living people “of distinction.” Other members include physicist Stephen Hawking and actor Ian McKellen.