Dolly Parton was 'scared to death' about breaking protocol with Queen Elizabeth but realised she was 'very giving person'
The queen of country music met Britain's longest reigning monarch in 1977 and the singer described the moment as 'amazing'
Meeting Queen Elizabeth isn't something you ever forget and for the late Dolly Parton the build-up to the experience was totally different from the moment itself. She performed at a special Royal Variety Show in Glasgow to celebrate the Queen's Silver Jubilee in 1977 and was introduced to Her Majesty afterwards.
Pictures capture this special moment between British and country music royalty and in 2023, Dolly said she'd been anxious about the protocol beforehand. Thankfully, she quickly realised that the Queen wasn't really concerned about faux pas.
Dolly told BBC Radio 2, "Even though you have to do the protocol, you have to bow and all that, I could tell that she didn't care about that. That's just something she had to do. And if somebody made a mistake, it was OK."
"I was scared to death that I was not going to know how to curtsy, that I wasn't going to bend right," she continued. "But she was just very warm, very sweet, and I could tell she was a very giving person. And just meeting the Queen of England, just to meet a queen, it was amazing."
Although the Royal Family's website confirms that there aren't "obligatory codes of behaviour" when it comes to greeting the monarch, the traditional way for women is a "small curtsy". This seems to be what the singer was preparing for and meeting "sweet" Queen Elizabeth in person backstage must've been particularly special - if nerve-wracking - for her.
Dolly, who sadly passed away after a "brief battle with cancer" on 25th August, confessed she was intrigued by royalty as a child growing up in Tennessee.
The Jolene star explained, "I remember as a child being fascinated with the kings and queens and all their flamboyant clothes, people living in another world with riches and crowns and jewelry and all that. But when I actually got to meet her, she was very sweet."
She almost got to meet a future Queen too, as in the same interview Dolly revealed she'd been asked to tea with the Princess of Wales. Sadly, she "couldn't even go" as she was so busy promoting her album, Rockstar. However she thought Kate's gesture was also "very sweet".
The Princess would surely be honoured to be described by Dolly Parton in the same way as her late grandmother-in-law. When Queen Elizabeth died in 2022 there were outpourings of tributes from people across the world and the flags on the royal palaces were lowered to half-mast.
Following Dolly's passing, official US flags are at half-mast as a mark of respect for the 12-time Grammy Award winner and they'll remain lowered for a full week.
Across the pond, King Charles shared a special video on social media, in which the Band of the Coldstream Guards played a rendition of 9 to 5 outside Buckingham Palace. This unique performance surely fulfilled Dolly's childhood idea of a "flamboyant" monarchy.
