Dolly Parton feels bad that she was not able to have tea with Kate Middleton while in the U.K. last summer, but she corrected claims that she turned down the invite.
The 77-year-old country music icon was in London in August to promote her new album "Rockstar" and had a full schedule so she could not squeeze in the tea date with the Princess of Wales. She talked about the invitation in an interview with Saga Exceptional, sharing: "I only had one full day and I did not have a second to do anything else besides work."
However, she noted that she wanted people to know that she "didn't turn the invitation down" and that she was "honoured and flattered" to have received the invite from Kate Middleton.
Parton shared that she would jump at the chance to have tea with the princess if invited again. She even has an idea on what they could talk about and that is their shared passion for helping children.
Kate Middleton has launched several initiatives focusing on the importance of early childhood developmental care in the U.K. through her Early Childhood programme. Meanwhile, Parton launched her Imagination Library in 1995, which aims to inspire a love of reading by gifting books to children from birth to age five with funding shared by the singer and other local community partners in the U.K., Republic of Ireland, the U.S.A., Canada, and Australia.
"So maybe that's what we can talk about when we do have tea. I think she's adorable and I hope someday to be able to sit down and have a good conversation with her," the singer said.
Parton previously talked about the tea invite from the Princess of Wales in an interview in August. When asked if she planned to see more of London, she said she has no time to squeeze in even a little sight-seeing because of her packed schedule and also had to decline a tea date with Kate Middleton.
"This time, Lordy, I even got invited to have tea with Kate. And I felt so bad... I couldn't even go! They had all this stuff set up," she said.
At that time, she jokingly said that she had to say no to the invite because the royal was not going to promote her new album. But Parton said that it was "very sweet and nice" of Kate Middleton to invite her to tea and noted: "One of these days I'm going to get to do that – that would be great."
