Barbara Knox has cried with pride over being involved in Coronation Street's Diamond Jubilee storyline.
The 78-year-old actress' Weatherfield alter ego Rita Sullivan is due to marry Dennis Tanner (Philip Lowrie) on Monday (04.06.12) - the day of Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee celebrations - and the soap stalwart admits she was overwhelmed with the honour of being at the forefront of such a big day.
Barbara said: "It's such a huge honour and I was overwhelmed - it makes me weep to think of it.
"A lot of television is geared towards kids now, so I think it's just brilliant that they've given older people a good storyline. It's so uplifting. And Dennis is the right man for Rita - at last."
Barbara met the queen when she received an MBE at Buckingham Palace two years ago, and the monarch appeared "quite knowledgeable" about the show - though the actress admits she made a "ridiculous" remark back to her.
She recalled to Inside Soap magazine: "We chatted about the Street and she seemed quite knowledgeable. I said to her, 'Now, if you've got a minute on the 10th of December...' because that was the tram crash live episode. Can you believe I said that? 'Have you got a minute?' To the queen of England! Isn't that ridiculous?"
by Silvia Logan 31st May 2012 03:32
I hope that Rita and Dennis stay happily married till their death date. They should had married each other when they were young people in the 1960's.