It's a milestone age that many women face with trepidation. However, approaching 50 doesn't appear to be phasing Elizabeth Hurley. Estee Lauder has renewed her contract for the 21st year in a row, she has a lead role in the new (and unapologetically daft) US series The Royals and her swimwear line is selling well in Saks Fifth Avenue and Harrods. It's now nearly 21 years since the British actress, model and businesswoman  was catapulted into the spotlight at the Four Weddings and a Funeral Premiere. Scroll down for video . Looking regal at nearly 50: Elizabeth Hurley, pictured above promoting new US television series The Royals, puts her enduring beauty down to covering herself in moisturiser from a young age . Show-stopper: The Versace dress worn by Elizabeth at the premiere for Four Weddings and a Funeral put her on the front page of every newspaper. She calls the dress 'a landmark dress in fashion history' Just being on Hugh Grant's arm would have garnered headlines enough but famously pouring herself into that revealing black Versace dress saw her steal the entire show, even if she was thereafter constantly referred to as 'Hugh Grant's girlfriend'. Elizabeth tells the Times that the moment was actually less about her and all about the dress: 'It was such a landmark dress in fashion history. Like nothing to do with me. It was the dress.' The black, strappy ensemble, seemingly held together with large gold safety pins, kickstarted her previously quiet career which, two decades on, has seen her try her hand at everything from acting and modelling to owning her own organic food company and designing her own swimwear. Her looks have very much remained flawless despite the ageing process. Still pin thin, there's barely a wrinkle on her, something which she puts down to nothing more than a lifetime of lathering on moisturiser - with at least SPF30 if she's in the sun - and a great diet. If plenty of older female stars have spoken out about ageism against women recently, any obvious discrimination seems to have passed Elizabeth by. She says there are 'a lot of girls who are doing advertising campaigns who are my age or more. It's a very nice time as far as that's concerned.' 'Quite sexy': Elizabeth's new show The Royals sees her play Queen Helena, based on an 'obviously fictitious' royal family living in modern-day London. Joan Collins plays her mother and was handpicked by Elizabeth . Flawless skin (...and plenty of diamonds): The star (pictured left in a recent selfie) says she hasn't experienced ageism in Hollywood and has had her 21-year contract with Estee Lauder renewed . It's hard to believe but exercise has hardly featured 'for years' thanks to a gruelling work regime that means she doesn't find it easy to make time for working out. Her current schedule, she says, sees her picked up at dawn and not home until 8:30pm in the evening. New show The Royals, described as 'obviously fictitious' sees Elizabeth playing the character of Queen Helena reigning over modern-day England, with Joan Collins, who was handpicked by her, playing her mother. She says of the show: 'It's fun, it's a drama - it's not a comedy but it's lighthearted. It's quite sexy.' She admits that her 12-year-old son Damian, born in 2002 to entrepreneur Steve Bing, was privy to some of the racier scenes, having spent part of his school holidays on the set. Father and son: Liz fell pregnant in 2001 by business magnate Steve Bing. Although Mr Bing denied that Damian, now 12, (right) was his child, a DNA test proved otherwise . Taking a sabbatical from relationships: After plenty of romances including a marriage to Arun Nayar, an engagement to Shane Warne and a short friendship with financier David Yarrow, Elizabeth is enjoying a break . Still the one? They've been apart longer than they were together but the lives of Elizabeth and Hugh are still very much entwined with both being godparent to the other one's child. Hugh is pictured above with Elizabeth's son Damian at a fundraising event in 2013 . After a string of high-profile relationships, Elizabeth seems to be settling for the single life as she approaches her fifties. Speaking on The Jonathan Ross show, she said: 'I am single. On sabbatical. I'm busy at the moment, family, work, I'm working more now than I ever have been, no time for love.' Her life is, she readily admits, still entwined with former beau Hugh Grant's. Although the couple have now been apart for longer than they were together, there seems to be few signs of the friendship fading. The actor is godfather to her son Damian, born in 2002 to entrepreneur Steve Bing and she has returned the favour, being godmother to one of Hugh's daughters, Tabitha. She told Jonathan Ross: 'We're best friends. He lives next door to me and he's godfather to my son and I'm godmother to one of his children. 'We've been apart for longer than we were together. We were together for 13 years and then we've been best friends for 15.' When pushed by the television presenter on a possible romantic reunion, she dismissed the idea, saying: 'I don't think that's going to happen...but he's the best friend that anyone could have.' After a brief dalliance with Steve Bing which resulted in a DNA test to prove his paternity of Damian, she married Indian textile heir Arun Nayar in 2007 after a five-year relationship, with a ceremony in the UK and a lavish six-day ceremony in Jodhpur, India. A new episode in the life of Elizabeth: The star has been promoting new E! show The Royals . When the relationship crumbled five years ago, a series of headline-grabbing romances followed including an engagement to Australian cricketer Shane Warne. Her most recent paramour was said to be hedge-fund financier and wildlife photographer Steve Yarrow. It seems, with son Damian, a small herd of pets to nurture including five dogs, chickens, alpacas and piglets, that she already has more than enough affection in her life. 'I am much more country girl than town girl. When I had my son, it got quite difficult in London to get any privacy and so I bought a farm in the country, in Gloucestershire and lived out there for a while and did full-time farming.' The actress has a rather clever way too of filtering out calls to her office too. She's known by close family not as 'Liz' or 'Elizabeth' but an undisclosed moniker. 'No-one calls me Liz or Elizabeth. If someone rings the office and says anything about 'Liz', we know they've never met me.'
The British actress and businesswoman will turn 50 in June . Puts her enduring beauty down to a lifetime of lathering herself with moisturiser... but admits to doing very little exercise . Has a new role as Queen Helena in US series The Royals . Former flame Hugh Grant is 'her best friend' and 'lives next door'
The animal-lover has five dogs, chickens, piglets and alpacas .