Ice skating champions Dame Jayne Torvill and Sir Christopher Dean were honoured by King Charles III at Windsor Castle on Tuesday, with Sir Christopher joking that he is enjoying retirement and would "recommend it."
The ice dance duo were among 68 people to receive awards from the King, alongside Luther star Sir Idris Elba and comedian and actress Dame Meera Syal. The pair made history when they won Olympic gold at the 1984 Winter Games for their "Bolero" performance and later became the faces of the celebrity competition show Dancing On Ice.
Dame Jayne said the King asked whether they were still skating and told her he was "so pleased" to recognise their achievements. "He said 'Are you coaching or anything?', and I said 'no, we've just retired now'. We did our last tour last year, and that the body was deciding that that was our last tour, but we enjoyed it," she said.
Sir Christopher added: "I had a similar conversation. I also said: 'We've retired, and I recommend it', and he had a little laugh." He described the day as "wonderful" and said being in Windsor Castle was "amazing."
Retirement and Farewell Tour
News of their damehood and knighthood arrived at the end of a year in which the pair retired from performing after their UK "farewell" tour, which culminated in their home city of Nottingham in July. Dame Jayne, 68, said stepping off the ice for the final time was "a mixture of emotions," but they were happy to have delivered one of their best performances.
Sir Christopher, 67, explained that they had prepared for the end. "To put a tour like that together takes about a year and a half, and so that preparation is always in the back of your mind that this is the final performance. A lot of people say, 'won't you miss it?', but we feel like we've achieved what we've achieved, and we don't need to do any more. The body doesn't want to do any more."
Awkward News of Honours
Dame Jayne found out about her damehood around three days before her dance partner, realising he had not yet received a letter when she phoned him to celebrate. "It was a bit of an awkward situation for both of us," she said. Sir Christopher added that he was happy for Jayne but unsure how to act. It later transpired that his letter had been sent to the wrong place due to an incorrect postcode. "I got it about two weeks later," he said with a laugh.
Legacy of Dancing On Ice
Reflecting on the impact of Dancing On Ice, Dame Jayne said: "It's lovely for us because we've always been passionate about it, and some of our celebrities, if we run into them, we say, 'Are you still skating?'. A lot of them say, 'No, definitely not', but there are some that still do it, and they like it. Sam (Aston), Chesney from Coronation Street, he still skates. We've had so many."
Also among those honoured on Tuesday were 93-year-old Betty Brown, thought to be the oldest surviving victim of the Post Office Horizon IT scandal, and Paul Elliott, best known as one half of the comedy duo Chuckle Brothers. The King's eye surgeon, Professor Philip Bloom, and Simon Eccles, a plastic surgeon to the King and Queen, were made Lieutenants of the Royal Victorian Order.
