Ice skating legends Sir Christopher Dean and Dame Jayne Torvill received their knighthood and damehood from King Charles at Windsor Castle on Tuesday, capping off remarkable careers that have spanned more than four decades.
The celebrated duo were among 68 individuals honoured by His Majesty, with Sir Idris Elba and Dame Meera Syal also receiving recognition at the ceremony.
Dame Jayne, 68, shared a light-hearted exchange with the monarch about his newfound leisure time. “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.’
Sir Christopher, 67, added: “I had a similar conversation. I also said: ‘We’ve retired, and I recommend it’, and he had a little laugh.”
Dame Jayne revealed the King expressed how “so pleased” he was to acknowledge their accomplishments.
Sir Christopher described the occasion as “a wonderful day” and expressed amazement at the traditional setting of Windsor Castle.
The pair etched their names into sporting history when they claimed Olympic gold at the 1984 Winter Games in Sarajevo with their iconic Bolero routine.
Their farewell tour concluded in July last year in Nottingham, the city where both grew up.
Ice skating legends Sir Christopher Dean and Dame Jayne Torvill received their knighthood and damehood
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PA
Dame Jayne described stepping off the ice for the final time as “a mixture of emotions, but we were so happy to have been able to do that tour, and you always want to give a good performance, and we felt that that show as a whole was one of the best performances”.
Sir Christopher explained assembling such a production required approximately eighteen months of preparation.
“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,” he said.
The announcement of their honours was not without its complications, however.
Sir Christopher described the occasion as ‘a wonderful day’ and expressed amazement at the traditional setting of Windsor Castle
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PA
Dame Jayne Torvill revealed that the King expressed how ‘so pleased’ he was to acknowledge their accomplishments
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PA
Dame Jayne discovered she had been made a dame roughly three days before her skating partner learned of his own recognition.
When she telephoned Sir Christopher to share the joyous news, it became apparent that he had not been told yet.
“It was a bit of an awkward situation for both of us,” Dame Jayne admitted.
Sir Christopher acknowledged: “I wanted to be, and was, happy for Jayne, but at the same time and Jayne felt the same as well that you didn’t know how to act, neither of us did, did we?”
Investigation revealed his letter had been dispatched to an incorrect postcode.
“I got it about two weeks later,” Sir Christopher added with a laugh.
Beyond their competitive achievements, the duo became household names through their role on Dancing On Ice, inspiring countless celebrities and members of the public to take to the rink.
Tuesday’s investiture also recognised several other distinguished individuals, including Betty Brown, 93, believed to be the oldest surviving victim of the Post Office Horizon scandal, and Paul Elliott of the Chuckle Brothers.
The King’s medical team received honours too, with his eye surgeon, Professor Philip Bloom, and plastic surgeon Simon Eccles appointed Lieutenants of the Royal Victorian Order.