There Is Nothing Like A Dame : esp the ones created by the British Honor System

The British way of life is steeped in traditions which sets it aside from the rest of the world.  Much of it is based around the Royal Family and is perpetuated through generations that can go back centuries.  Some of it may seem archaic to the rest of the world in particular, but the British queer community seems to revel in it.  Especially the glamorous parts which appeal to our sheer sense of campness. ….. like the whole subject of ‘Dames’.  They are actually part of an honor system whose roots can be traced back to the medieval concept of chivalry and the honorific orders of the Crusades.

This modern-day British order of chivalry is a visible honor awarded by the Sovereign, typically in recognition of individual achievement and service. rewarding contributions to the arts, sciences, and work with charitable organisations. The performing arts is a widely recognised category for recipients of the Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) and Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE). 

Sadly we have recently lost two of our most favorite ones Dame Joan Plowright  and Dame Maggie Smith.  Dame Joan was also known as Lady Olivier as her husband had been Lord Lawrence Olivier , the multi awarded winning actor, who also founded The National Theatre in London.   Dame Joan was also a much beloved and very successful actress who earned the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her A Taste of Honey . She won the Laurence Olivier Award  (the Engish version of a Tony) for Filumena (1978).

In 1978  Dame Joan got together with  Dames Judi Dench, Eileen Atkins,  and Maggie Smith for tea and to reminisce and discuss their acting careers.  This wonderful clip from “Tea With The Dames” makes for a great wee reminder of the late actress with her friends and colleagues 

Dame Maggie Smith  who also died recently had a much more high profile career thanks mainly to her two major commercial  roles which really caught the public’s attention :  she played Professor Minerva McGonagall in all eight Harry Potter films, and  the perfectly snobby Lady Grantham in Downtown Abbey. Another of her successful roles was starring in the film version of The Lady in The Van which she was promoting on Graham Norton’s TV Chat Show.   That evening she was on great form, and we think re-watching it  is just the perfect way to remember her by  

Dame Joan Plowright  (28 October 1929 – 16 January 2025)