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I should be so lucky says Kylie Minogue, OBE
Valentine Low and Sir Carmichael03.07.08
The Prince of Wales didn't stand a chance. When Kylie Minogue went to Buckingham Palace today to receive her OBE it was, on the face of it, just another investiture.
Then the pop star went up to collect her gong - and suddenly Charles found himself at the receiving end of a full-on Kylie charm offensive. She smiled that thousand megawatt smile. She chatted. She joked. She even clasped his hand between hers, and held it there.
The normal description for such behaviour is flirting, but that would probably be classified as a breach of official investiture etiquette and so we will just say that by the time his Kylie encounter was over, the heir to the throne looked as if he would never be the same again.
She thought it was pretty good, too. "I was totally blown away to receive this," she said afterwards.
The Australian singer and actress wore a shimmering cream dress decorated with large stars with gold high-heeled sandals. Not that the heels did her any good; she could stand on a soap box and still be dwarfed by the Prince (who is not exactly a giant among men).
She was being recognised for a pop career that has spanned more than two decades and seen millions of albums and singles sold including I Should Be So Lucky and Can't Get You Out Of My Head.
Kylie, 40, said she was "very nervous" before the ceremony. "It was surprisingly emotional," she said. "I expected to be a little nervous, obviously very excited, but it was very emotional
seeing all these people from different walks of life joining together for this event." The singer took a moment to look at the decorations in palace and said: "I'm imagining our family when we were kids saying to me, 'one day you're going to go to the palace'. That would not have been believable."
She added: "It is an incredible honour for me to receive this award. "It makes me feel both humble and proud to be recognised for doing a job that I love so much."
She was joined by her parents, former ballet dancer Carol and accountant Ron, and her sister Dannii who has also carved out a pop career and rushed from filming auditions for the talent show X Factor to be by her sister's side.
In May this year, Kylie was given the Order of Arts and Letters by the French government for her "contribution to the enrichment of French culture".
