Judi Dench finally joined the tattooed masses — for her 81st birthday

Of course Judi Dench’s tattoo would be classy.

The “Philomena” star, who turned 81 in December, commemorated the occasion by inking the inside of her right wrist with the words “Carpe Diem” in two lines of all-caps block lettering, with an assist from her actress daughter, Finty Williams.

“That’s my motto: ‘Seize the day.’ Finty gave it to me for my 81st birthday – she’s wonderful with surprises,” Dench told Surrey Life magazine, which interviewed her at the British Wildlife Center.

(Anyone not thinking of Hugh Grant’s character’s Horse & Hound cover story in “Notting Hill” right now? Imagine Los Angeles magazine, with a few farming and equestrian tidbits thrown in.)

“Good, isn’t it?,” she continued (via the Daily Mail). “Mind you, the company of ‘A Winter’s Tale,’ which I was doing at the time, used to say that it said fish of the day.”

The Oscar winner for “Shakespeare in Love” was talking about getting a tattoo to mark turning 80, she told Good Housekeeping in January 2015, noting that her daughter was “keen” for her to do it. But choosing the design apparently proved challenging.

“There’s an Indian symbol that I like, which supposedly represents life and love and everything,” she said at the time. “One of the cameramen who worked on ‘The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel’ told me what it meant, but I’m a bit nervous in case I’m being set up… It might be unbelievably rude!”

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Follow Christie D’Zurilla on Twitter @theCDZ.