Stage fright? Nothing as bad as getting a gong from Princess Anne

Stage fright? Nothing as bad as getting a gong from Princess Anne

02/23/2023

Joanna Lumley says being made a Dame was fabulous – but the ceremony left her shaking like a leaf. The actress was summoned to Windsor Castle to receive the honour from Princess Anne in July.

Yet despite living in the public eye for decades, she was frozen with fear until the Princess Royal stepped in to relieve her nerves.

Dame Joanna said: “I was met by Princess Anne but sadly was so overwhelmed with emotion I could barely speak. I apologised and she said: ‘Don’t worry, you have a lovely brim on your hat.’ She kept on talking before I curtseyed and went out into the Picture Gallery. Stevie (husband Stephen Barlow) was there waiting and I just burst into tears.”

The star, who was in James Bond epic On Her Majesty’s Secret Service in 1969 and The New Avengers, received the gong for services to drama, entertainment and charitable causes. Dame Joanna, 76, admits in Good Housekeeping, on sale today, that she has been poleaxed by stress and that suffering from burnout taught her a valuable lesson.

She added: “I will never, ever misread anything so badly again in my life. Now, if I’m tired, I make sure to put my head down and go to sleep. If something completely awful is happening, I deal with it.”

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