“I think she’s adorable and I hope one day I can sit down and have a good chat with her,” the country star said
Dolly Parton was royally confused by Kate Middleton’s invitation.
The “Jolene” singer, 77, shared her thoughts on the Princess of Wales’ tea invitation in a new interview with UK’s Saga Exceptional.
“I was honored and flattered that she even invited me,” Parton told the paper about the royal invitation. “I only had one whole day and I didn’t have a second to do anything but work.”
However, she noted that she wanted to “make sure people know that I didn’t turn down the invitation” and that it was simply that her schedule was already too full.
The singer told the outlet that she would jump at the chance to have tea with the Princess of Wales if she were to extend the offer again. He even has an idea of what they would talk about: their shared passion for helping children.
Dolly Parton playfully refuses tea with Kate Middleton because ‘she wasn’t going to promote my rock album’
Kate has launched several initiatives highlighting the importance of early childhood development in the UK, while the “9 to 5” singer has her own Imagination Library, which as of this year has given away 200 million books to children worldwide since it was founded.
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Dolly Parton poses with her guitar during her Christmas special.
Katherine Bomboy/NBC via Getty
“So maybe we can talk about it over tea,” Parton said, adding: “I think she’s adorable and I hope one day I can sit down and have a good chat with her.”
Parton initially discussed turning down Kate’s offer in an interview with BBC Radio 2 back in August, saying that she “felt so bad” that she “couldn’t even go” to tea when “all these things were arranged”.
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She said at the time that her team had such a busy schedule due to the promotions of her new album Rock star that she couldn’t squeeze in a tea meeting. Parton made light of the incident in an interview, joking about Kate: “She didn’t want to promote my rock album, so I had to say no.”
Although Parton didn’t get to meet the royals during this trip, she had previously met Queen Elizabeth during her Silver Jubilee in 1977. The singer recalled being “scared to death” about botching a bow while meeting the royal family, but recalled how the queen was “very warm, very sweet” and “very generous”.
“Just meeting the Queen of England, just meeting the Queen, it was amazing,” Parton told Insider.
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The “I Will Always Love You” singer also paid tribute to the Queen when she died in September 2022.
“She carried herself with grace and strength throughout her life,” Parton wrote on Instagram, adding a photo of her meeting the late monarch. “May he rest in peace. My thoughts and prayers are with her family at this time.”
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Source: HIS Education