Joanna Lumley still hasn’t picked out her Coronation outfit, with less than three weeks to go. After all, how do you dress for one of the most historic occasions we will live through?
“I’m going to try to be as careful as possible to get it just right, to look really respectful and nice, but not kind of too safe,” the 76-year-old actress says.
Dame Joanna, who has been personally invited to join King Charles and Queen Camilla at their crowning in Westminster Abbey on May 6, is devoting next week to finding the perfect outfit.
Though of course her Absolutely Fabulous character Patsy Stone would no doubt have something Chanel-esque or animal-striped in her closet, accessorised with a string of pearls, a permanently lit fag and firmly gripped bottle of Bolly.
However, Patsy nearly didn’t exist. Joanna’s first meeting with comedy partner Jennifer Saunders at the BBC screen test was awkward, and Jennifer “wasn’t remotely amused” by her increasingly desperate attempts to connect with her, she tells a new documentary.
“She didn’t react at all, she read her stuff, looked bored stiff. And I thought, ‘oh, this is awful’. I said, ‘Can I call you Jen?’, she said, ‘No’. I went home and phoned my agent and said, ‘Can you get me out of this? It’s going to be agony.’”
The agent persuaded her to stay, and their next meeting was much more pleasant, luckily.
Joanna, who played Patsy for 20 years, says filming with Jennifer was “hysterical” and they struggled to hold it together in front of the live audience.
One scene, in which an elderly Patsy loses her pants while accidentally snorting a bee, nearly sent them over the edge. “When I die I just want that to be played at my funeral,” she says.
The Channel 5 show looks back over her incredible career.
As a model in Swinging Sixties London, she had daily weight-loss injections – “and God knows what was in them – some kind of diuretic,” she says.
Her acting break came when she was offered a stint on Coronation Street as Ken Barlow’s flame.
“At the audition I said, ‘Would you like me to do an accent?” They said, ‘Stop, that’s awful,’” she laughs.
In Corrie’s green room she made a faux pas by coming on too strong.
“All these legends sitting around, Vi Carson playing Ena Sharples and Doris Speed playing Annie Walker. I looked round, and sort of said, ‘Hello!’ And they just glanced up, and nothing,” she sighs.
In 1969 she played a Bond Girl opposite George Lazenby in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, then in 1976 bagged the famous role of Purdey in The New Avengers.
British India-born Joanna has always had a soft spot for the Royal Family, with her first impressions of England being Elizabeth’s 1953 coronation.
“We’re so lucky to have King Charles, because he’s been the best Prince of Wales there’s ever been.
“He’s fantastic about people, and people who’ve got small jobs, small occupations, and people who are not necessarily the big wigs. He’s got time for everybody. It’s going to be a great thrill to see him and Queen Camilla crowned.”
Joanna, who is married to conductor Stephen Barlow, believes Charles’s reign will be one of peace and inclusion.
“I’ve always known how much all the faiths mean to him,” she says.
“I know the green agenda will be high up on his list. With those kindly royal eyes looking on, I think it will goad us on to doing better.”
* Joanna Lumley: My Best Bits - In My Own Words airs Sunday April 16 at 9pm on Channel 5
