Star Wars actor Mark Hamill has said the death of his co-star Carrie Fisher still feels like an “elaborate prank”.

The pair – who played brother and sister duo Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia Organa in the original 1970s and 1980s trilogy – reprised their characters in latest instalment Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

Fisher died at the age of 60 last December, shortly after completing her final scenes.

Speaking almost a year later at the film’s European premiere at London’s Royal Albert Hall, an emotional Hamill told the Press Association: “I’m still not over it. It’s hard.

“It gives the film an air of melancholy it doesn’t deserve. I want my drama on the screen, not in real life, so it’s horrible.

“I keep thinking maybe this is like an elaborate Andy Kaufman prank and she’s living in Crete now having a great laugh and drinking champagne.

Carrie Fisher death
Carrie Fisher (Ian West/PA)

“But I think of her in the present tense, not in the past, but I’ve know her since she was 19, what’s that, 41 years?

“So instead of being upset that she’s not here, I’m just grateful for the time I had with her.”

The 66-year-old actor, who found fame in the Star Wars films, added: “You have to face facts, it’s just I don’t want to.”

A host of stars from The Last Jedi – the eighth film in the saga – appeared on the red carpet for the premiere.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi European Premiere – London
Rian Johnson (Ian West/PA)

They were joined by the Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry, who are rumoured to have cameo roles as Stormtroopers.

Daisy Ridley, who plays one of the film’s lead characters, Rey, said the film was “a wonderful showing of her (Fisher’s) talent”.

Domhnall Gleeson (General Hux) told the Press Association: “I won’t talk about her scenes except to say that she’s amazing in it… she’s unbelievable.”

Writer and director Rian Johnson added: “I feel super lucky I got to know her even briefly.

“She was just an amazing person, I just wish she was here tonight.”