This week has been a great week if your name happens to be Angela Lansbury, though now we have to call her Dame Angela Lansbury.
On Tuesday, April 15, Lansbury was at Windsor Castle where Queen Elizabeth II made her a Dame. The honor was bestowed upon Lansbury for her charity work and her acting career that has spanned most of her lifetime.
“It is a very proud day for me to be recognised by the country of my birth, and to meet the Queen under these circumstances is a rare and lovely occasion,” said Lansbury of the occasion.
Now a Dame Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (DBE), Lansbury was previously known as a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE).
Lansbury was born in the UK, but moved to the United States after her father died during World War II.
While many may recognize the new Dame from her work as crime writer-turned-amateur sleuth Jessica Fletcher on Murder, She Wrote, Lansbury has also appeared in Bedknobs and Broomsticks, The Manchurian Candidate (1962), and voiced Mrs. Potts in the animated classic Beauty and the Beast.
Dame Angela’s acting work doesn’t stop with the small and big screens. Lansbury is currently reprising her role as Madame Arcati in Noel Coward’s Blithe Spirit on the London stage.
Lansbury was awarded an honorary Oscar last year after being nominated for an Oscar three times, including for her debut role in the 1944 film Gaslight.
“[The Oscar] is for my work in motion pictures and this is for the overall accomplishments of my life as an actress. It has afforded me the joy of working in America and also in England a great deal,” said Lansbury.
Many took to Twitter to congratulate the new Dame.
Congratulations #MurderSheWrote star Angela Lansbury! Here she is being made a Dame Commander by The Queen today pic.twitter.com/7aZlLbRVM5
— BritishMonarchy (@BritishMonarchy) April 15, 2014
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Dame Angela Brigid Lansbury Shaw. #SimplyTheBest pic.twitter.com/wMKn6hEnir
— Angela Lansbury News (@_AngelaLansbury) April 16, 2014
Congratulations to the star of our show, Dame Angela Lansbury on receiving her DBE from the Queen! Read the story: http://t.co/pWC8BTcQwB
— Blithe Spirit (@BlitheSpiritLDN) April 16, 2014
CONGRATULATIONS TO A BLITHE SPIRIT! D-A-M-E Angela Lansbury! http://t.co/BlKJSNe5nl My interview: http://t.co/eVGsSPljlD
— Christiane Amanpour (@camanpour) April 15, 2014
Actress Dame Angela Lansbury Shaw will be made a Dame Commander today #Investiture #WindsorCastle #Congratulations
— BritishMonarchy (@BritishMonarchy) April 15, 2014
Image via YouTube.
