Culture | Music Dame Shirley Bassey has said she was more nervous receiving an honour from the King than singing for him as she picked up her latest royal award at Windsor Castle. The Welsh singer, 87, was made a Companion of Honour in the New Year Honours list for her services to music, having become a dame in the 1999 honours list. After receiving the award on Tuesday, Dame Shirley said it was her first time meeting Charles as King.
She said: “I think it’s more nerve-racking to receive the award from him than to sing in front of him. I mean, it’s new, different, whereas singing I’ve been doing since I was a child. “I forgot to curtsy, but that’s why I grabbed his hands because I forgot to curtsy.
Instinctive.” She said Charles had complimented her on her outfit, a sparkly black and white Isabell Kristensen dress. “I asked him how he was, and he said he was fine and said: ‘You look wonderful,'” she said.
“He wished me all the best and then I grabbed him – I know I shouldn’t have done that. But I grabbed both his hands and said: ‘I wish you well.’” Asked what it was like to be dubbed an icon, Dame Shirley said: “It can be very nice, and it can be very isolating and a nuisance – especially if you’re in a restaurant and people come and sit at your table uninvited.
” She said the most glamorous moment of her life was the first time she sang for the late Queen at the Royal Variety Performance. “I’ve had 70 years of glamorous moments,” .
