Penny Lancaster has revealed to ITV's Good Morning Britain that she will be working as a Special Constable at the Queen's state funeral next week. The TV presenter, who is married to Sir Rod Stewart, recalled fond memories of dancing with the new King on his 60th birthday as she appeared on the show this morning.
Last year, Penny signed the oath to the Queen after training to be a special police constable. She worked during the Queen’s memorial service at St Paul’s Cathedral on Friday and will also be on duty at her funeral at Westminster Abbey on Monday, she said.
Penny said it will be a “historic moment” and she will be “very proud to be able to serve” during the event. She told the show: "It was a great privilege to work at the Queen's memorial service at St. Paul's Cathedral on Friday. I signed the oath of Office of Constable to Her Majesty the Queen just over a year ago, April last year, and just as the seamless tie between Her Majesty and King Charles III, my oath will now be with the King."
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Speaking about her fondness the new King, Charles III, she said he has the same quality as his late mother to “put people at ease”. Penny, 51, also recalled fond memories of dancing with him on his 60th birthday when her husband performed for them.
She told the ITV morning programme: “I remember meeting the Queen for the first time. Rod and I are both vice-presidents of the RNIB (Royal National Institute of Blind People), an incredible charity that her late majesty was a patron of, and Rod performed for a couple of those charitable events at St James’s Palace.
“Like everyone has said, you can almost feel her presence before she’s entered the room. That omnipresence I’ve always felt that she had, the way she could be everywhere all of the time for everyone, whether you got the chance to meet her or just felt her presence.”
She admitted that she would feel “extremely nervous” when meeting the Queen but that her “warm smile” and “the twinkle in her eye” helped her “connect with everyone she met”.
Penny said she and Sir Rod have also had “many wonderful times” with the new King as they are ambassadors of his charity, The Prince’s Trust. “He definitely reflects a lot of the Queen’s greatest qualities – the warmth, the humility, you know, that sparkle, and being able to reach out to so many people, especially with his work with the Prince’s Trust,” she said.
The model recalled a time when she sat beside Charles at a dinner and that, when she was serving herself food from a platter, she accidentally dropped it between her plate and his. She joked that she thought she was “going to be dragged by my hair out and never to be seen again” but the King had an ability to “completely put people at ease” like his mother and told her not to worry about it.
She added that she went on to dance with Charles to Sir Rod’s hit song Da Ya Think I’m Sexy? during this 60th birthday celebration at his request. “He asked if I would be the first on the dancefloor because you can imagine people being nervous and not knowing the protocol who should get up first,” she said. “So he asked in the drinks reception if I would do the first dance so it would get everybody up and and while Rod was performing I was on the dancefloor with Prince Charles, Prince Andrew, William and Harry – it was an incredible time.”
She admitted that he had a “bit of a dad dance” but was “charming”, adding: “I just know that he will follow in his mother’s footsteps and be an incredible king with, of course, support of his wonderful wife, Camilla.”
Her husband, Sir Rod, has performed for the royal family on many occasions, including singing Sweet Caroline at the Platinum Jubilee concert in June.
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