Thursday, 3 July 2008

Kylie Minogue's royal honors

Singerreceives an OBE for her long-standing music career

Kylie Minogue said she was nervous at the ceremony with Prince Charles

Kylie Minogue looked the part of pop royalty as she received a major honor from Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace Thursday.

The prince, 59, presented the Australian pop singer, 40, with an OBE (Order of the British Empire) for services to music at the grand ceremony.

Minogue, who first learned she would receive the honor last December in Queen Elizabeth's annual list, showed off her star power by wearing gold heels and a shiny off-white dress with large colored stars.

Describing herself as "humble and proud", she told reporters, "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."

In May, Minogue received a similar honor from France: the Order of Arts and Letters, one of the country's highest cultural awards.

Her personal life seems to be going well too. Only last week she was spotted having lunch in Paris with her ex, French actor Oliver Martinez. They dated for four years, through her battle with breast cancer in 2005, and have remained close since their split last year.