Bill Roache – best known for playing Ken Barlow on Coronation Street – has spoken about the first time he met the Queen, amid celebrations this week in honour of her Platinum Jubilee
Video Unavailable
Bill Roache: The Queen was ‘very attractive’ when I first met her
Bill Roache has reiterated that he fancied the Queen when the pair met for the first time almost seven decades ago, with him asserting that she was “very attractive”.
The actor, 90, – best known as Ken Barlow on Coronation Street – has previously spoken about first meeting the monarch, 96, but revealed more about it recently.
He explained that his first interaction with the Queen had been during his time in the army, when he was stationed in Jamaica with the Royal Welsh Fusiliers in the mid 1950s.
It was shortly after her Coronation in 1953, with him meeting the monarch on her tour of the Caribbean – describing her as “very attractive” when he met her with army colleagues.
(
Image:
Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images)
He discussed the experience with Denise Welch, 64, for a segment that aired on Loose Women earlier, with her asking if he had a “little twinkle” for the monarch.
Bill – who said he was about 23 at the time, meaning she would have been around 29 – responded: “Oh definitely, you couldn’t help [it]. She was very attractive, she was lovely.”
Further describing her, he said she was “very young, very alive, very alert and very attractive,” recalling that he met her for lunch at a governor’s house whilst stationed abroad.
(
Image:
ITV)
Do you enjoy reading about celebrities? Sign up for all the best celeb news from the Mirror here .
Bill said he spoke with her in a small group, stating that the army officers talked to her about their regimental goat, with the Queen “very interested” by the conversation.
The actor has met the monarch on numerous occasions since, estimating that it’s been “about eight times” over the years – with him further commenting about her personality.
(
Image:
Getty Images)
He said that she is “always lovely” and “always wanting to laugh,” adding that she’s “very alert” even now, with her having visited the Coronation Street set last summer.
And discussing the Queen and her late husband Prince Philip, he remarked: “They were always lovely because they enjoy what they do. They take an interest in it.”
Do you have a story to sell? Get in touch with us at webcelebs@mirror.co.uk or call us direct 0207 29 33033.
Read More
Read More
