In response to her new grand title, Dame Joanna Lumley said she is ‘astonished, thrilled and touched beyond words’.
The Absolutely Fabulous star, known for her role as outrageously boozy Patsy Stone in the iconic series, has been honoured for services to drama, entertainment and charitable causes in this year’s New Year Honours.
The actress, 75, said in a statement to the PA news agency: ‘I am astonished and thrilled and touched beyond words to receive this colossal honour. It comes as a complete and unexpected surprise, and is the kindest and most beautiful present imaginable.’ Hardly knew to the honours game, the glamorous actress was made an OBE in 1995, and received the Bafta TV Fellowship at a star-studded ceremony in 2017.Accepting the award on stage, she said: ‘This for me is paradise, I am in the company that I wished to keep ever since I was young. I wanted to be with the people who left race and religion and gender and shoe size outside the door.
In 2019 she was also given an honorary doctorate by the University of Chester in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the arts.Lumley’s other career highlights include her role as Purdey in The New Avengers, a role which propelled her to fame in 1976 – and she also made a lesser-known appearance in 1973 on Coronation Street as Ken Barlow’s posh girlfriend Elaine.