Dame Helen Mirren has been happily married to director Taylor Hackford since 1997. Photo / AP

Dame Helen Mirren has no regrets about not having children.

The 78-year-old actress has accepted that it was not her destiny to have babies and she has “never had a moment of regret” about not having kids of her own.

Speaking to America’s Closer magazine, she said: “I kept thinking it would be, waiting for it to happen but it never did, and I didn’t care what people thought. I have never had a moment of regret about not having children.”

Since 1997, Mirren has been happily married to director Taylor Hackford, who had two children from previous marriages.

The pair met when Hackford, 78, directed Mirren in 1985 musical drama White Nights, but it was not love at first sight for the British actress.

The Shazam! Fury of the Gods star said: “I didn’t like him at all when I met him.

“He was 20 minutes late and I had a meeting and I turned up on time. I don’t like being late. He’s still not on time and it drives me crazy.”

Meanwhile, Mirren is embracing growing older and wouldn’t go back to being younger for anything.

“If someone said to me, ‘I’m going to wave the magic wand and you’ll be 25 again,’ I would say no I don’t want that. The reality is as you age your body changes but you learn so much with time.”