Joanna Lumley's 'heart sank' over letter from Royal Family before breaking down in tears

A dedicated royalist as well as a tireless supporter of charities both national and international, Joanna Lumley was thrilled when she was appointed an OBE in the 1995 New Year Honours List. But when she received an "official-looking" letter dropped through her welcome mat seven years later, she was more than a little concerned.

The Absolutely Fabulous star told Saga Magazine: "My heart sank because I thought it would say I'd been parking on the wrong side of the street. Then I opened it and was completely overwhelmed. I blubbed."

She explained that the letter told her she was to be made a Dame: "I was terribly moved. I don't think you should be rewarded for charity stuff - you do it because you love to help - but it was a big deal."

Joanna recalls that the 2022 awards were the final New Year's Honours awarded by the late Queen Elizabeth II. She died nine months later in September 2022 at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, after celebrating her Platinum Jubilee to mark her record-breaking 70 year reign.

Joanna said: "She left so gracefully, remaining upright and swearing in Liz Truss as Prime Minister until the very last minute. We never saw her use a wheelchair, even though she was very frail. She was compos mentis, then she went to her bed and died."

Joanna had written a book, called A Queen for All Seasons: A Celebration of Our One and Only Queen Elizabeth II on Her Platinum Jubilee, which collects anecdotes from people who had met the late monarch at some point during her long reign.

Speaking to Jonathan Ross, she said the stories had been collected "from all kinds of people from very grand statesmen people like Ban Ki-moon and Khrushchev and Winston Churchill, right down to little kids who saw her passing by in the street and were allowed to go and give their flowers."

She picked out one particular story from Rob Halford, lead singer for rock band Judas Priest: "He went to Buckingham Palace and heard the queen say 'heavy metal.' He said 'I never believed i'd hear The Queen say the words heavy metal.'"

Joanna went on to tell Saga that she's also an enormous admirer of the King: "He was the most brilliant Prince of Wales we will ever see," she said.

Pointing out that the King was Prince Of Wales for over 64 years, she added that he hasn't allowed his cancer diagnosis to deter him from his royal duties: "He's exceptionally brave, because he really is ill, but practically nobody can keep up with him.

"He packs so much into every day, he walks faster than anybody I've ever met - he's incredible."

Joanna added that, as Prince Of Wales, he went through "a dark, dark time" when the media took Princess Diana's side against him: "So much mud was flung at the new Queen when she was Camilla Parker Bowles, but now she just goes about her job without any rancour. She's a golden, fabulous person."