\u201cYes, and I can see your outline, and I know you so well, but I can\u2019t recognise anybody now,\u201d she continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople think, \u2018Oh, get her, she\u2019s got very grand,\u2019 but it\u2019s because I can\u2019t see. I can\u2019t see the television, I can\u2019t see to read.\u201d<\/p>\n
Social media instantly lit up with messages of support for the film veteran.<\/p>\n
Dame Judi Dench with Daniel Craig (right) of the James Bond franchise. Photo \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cShe is 90 years of age and still looks great,\u201d someone insisted on Instagram.<\/p>\n
\u201cSuch a shame, but if anyone can deal with something like this it\u2019s her. She\u2019s an absolute powerhouse and the best of us,\u201d another commented.<\/p>\n
Despite appearances in 2022 film Spirited and comedy drama Allelujah, Dench confirmed she would be taking a step back from the cameras back in May 2024 because of her deteriorating health.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have so many friends who will teach me the script. But I have a photographic memory, so I have to know where it is on the page, and that\u2019s quite a difficult thing,\u201d she told reporters at the annual Chelsea Flower show.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what makes it really impossible so far. But I\u2019ll find a way,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
But finding a way has been a difficult task for the star.<\/p>\n
Just over six months later, she revealed that she is no longer able to leave her house on her own thanks to needing assistance because of her worsening eyesight.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomebody will always be with me; I have to now because I can\u2019t see and I will walk into something or fall over,\u201d she shared with Trinny Woodall on her Fearless podcast.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m always nervous before going to something. I have no idea why… I\u2019m not good at being on my own at all, nor would I be now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Age-related Macular Degeneration, or AMD, is an eye disease that causes central vision loss and is the leading cause of legal blindness in people over the age of 50.<\/p>\n
Symptoms include blurred or distorted vision, difficulty seeing faces and reading. While treatment includes management of the condition, there is currently no cure.<\/p>\n
Sign up to Herald Premium Editor\u2019s Picks<\/a>, delivered straight to your inbox every Friday. Editor-in-Chief Murray Kirkness picks the week\u2019s best features, interviews and investigations. Sign up for Herald Premium here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cYes, and I can see your outline, and I know you so well, but I can\u2019t recognise anybody…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":158502,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[26504,2947,104611,38471,156,134,6099,40568,5836,9066,111,139,69,48211,33021,12900,3168,180,1803],"class_list":["post-158501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-ability","tag-dame","tag-dench","tag-devastating","tag-entertainment","tag-health","tag-heartbreaking","tag-judi","tag-lost","tag-loved","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-ones","tag-recognise","tag-revealing","tag-shared","tag-shares","tag-update"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158501","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=158501"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158501\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/158502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=158501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=158501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=158501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}