‘A fairytale’: Dame Joanna Lumley reveals she never thought she’d be honored at Buckingham Palace after being stripped of her prefect badge at school when she was caught smoking
- Dame Joanna Lumley was honored today for her services to drama and charity
- The actress, 76, is best known for playing Patsy in Absolutely Fabulous
- She insisted she has no plans to stop acting just yet and will continue
Lady Joanna Lumley said her life felt ‘like a fairytale’ after receiving her Damehood at Buckingham Palace Today.
The veteran actress, 76, joked that she never thought she’d make it to the palace after being demoted to school prefect for smoking.
Dame Joanna, best known for playing Patsy in sitcom Absolutely Fabulous with her comedy partner Jennifer Saundersreceived the award for her services to drama, entertainment and charitable causes.
To receive her award, she donned a striking pink wrap blazer dress. She wore a hat with matching pink details.
Dame Joanna Lumley, 76, beamed as she held up her award for her services to drama, entertainment and charitable causes outside Buckingham Palace
The veteran actress, best known for playing Patsy in Absolutely Fabulous, stunned in a bright pink blazer dress
She described the honor as “absolutely enormous” and described how her experience at the palace was different today from when she picked up her OBE in 1995.
She said, “It was in the throne room, which is much smaller and much more intimate.
“And instead of a real military band, this beautiful bass and string quartet played very softly and it was so charming and so moving.”
Joanna received her damehood from Princess Anne, for whom she was full of praise.
The veteran actress said: [Anne is] just such a wonderful kind of figurehead for women in this country I guess [she is] brave and active and humble and brilliant.’
Dame Joanna said she and Anne were both Farms For City Children supporters.
She said Anne was “so sweet” and told her the honor was “well deserved.”
The 76-year-old joked that after getting into trouble at school as a teenager, she never thought she would get an award at Buckingham Palace.
“I mean, these are things you get checked off as a kid and my prefect badge taken away for smoking, something you’d never dream of being honored to be a Dame at Buckingham Palace,” she said.
Professor Kathleen Stock, who used to teach philosophy at the University of Sussex but left her position after an argument over her views on gender identity, was awarded an OBE at the ceremony.
When asked about her career, the actress said she was “still going strong” and had no plans to retire anytime soon.
She joked that she would keep working until they “chop their legs out from under me.”
The Dame, who has a new travel series next month, said she will know when it’s time to stop because “the phone stops ringing.”
After the ceremony, the royal family paid tribute to Dame Joanna.
The royals’ official account posted a photo of the new lady with her award on Instagram, writing: ‘Congratulations Dame Joanna Lumley!
“At today’s investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace, the Princess Royal presented Dame Joanna with her honor for her services to drama, entertainment and charitable causes.”
Other people awarded at the ceremony included Professor Kathleen Stock, who was awarded an OBE for services to higher education.
Professor Stock left her post at the University of Sussex last year after an argument over her views on gender identity.