Royal tonic for Lipman

Maureen Lipman with her daughter Amy and mother Zelma

Actress Maureen Lipman found herself treading a different kind of stage - when she went to Buckingham Palace to receive her CBE from the Queen.

Ms Lipman, who is starring in the London musical Oklahoma!, said the occasion had cheered her up - and cured her of a bout of sickness.

"I was feeling rather ill on the way here and I thought I wouldn't be able to go up and get the award," she said.

"I told my mother she would have to go up instead of me and she said she would but only if she could wear my hat.

"But it's amazing how getting a CBE can cheer you right up," said the 52-year-old veteran of stage and TV roles.

Endeared herself to the public

Her CBE is for services to comedy and drama over 30 years. Her first big TV break came in the 1970s when she starred in the ITV sitcom Agony. Her stage show Re-Joyce - a tribute to actress Joyce Grenfell - ran for five years in the UK and US.

In the early 1990s, she endeared herself to the public as neurotic Jewish housewife Beattie in 35 adverts for BT.

In the past five years she has suffered two serious health scares. In 1994 she had a non-cancerous tumour removed from her spinal cord, and last year she had a second operation on a spinal tumour.

Last year she returned to the stage, winning rave reviews for her performance as Aunt Eller in Oklahoma! at the National Theatre. It is now running at the West End's Lyceum Theatre.

Her film roles include parts in Educating Rita and Carry On Columbus.

'Two-commander family'

The award puts her on an equal footing with her writer husband Jack Rosenthal, who himself was given a CBE in 1993. "We are a now a two- commander family - we should be looking for a frigate," she quipped.

Tate Gallery director Sir Nicholas Serota was officially knighted by the Queen for services to the arts, while TV producer Denise O'Donoghue received an OBE. Her company, Hat Trick, has been behind some of the most successful shows of the 1990s, including Have I Got News For You, Father Ted and Drop The Dead Donkey.

Other personalities at Tuesday's investiture included athlete Denise Lewis and footballer Stuart Pearce, who received MBEs. Broadcaster Trevor Phillips - who announced on Monday he would be standing for Mayor of London - received an OBE.