The flashy Sir Tommy Steele is the one! A Princess Anne knighthood has brought joy to the eyes of a showbiz veteran.

  • Princess Anne said to Tommy Steele, “She knew all about” his career.”
  • Tommy stated that it was the highlight of 65 years of showbusiness.
  • His popularity was a result of his role as Britain’s first rock-n-roll superstar and teenage pop idol during the 1950s.










Veteran entertainer Tommy Steele discovered an unexpected new fan yesterday – Princess Anne.

The Princess Royal told him she ‘knew all about’ his career as she knighted him at Windsor Castle.

Sir Tommy, 84, said it was the ‘highlight of the highlights’ of his 65 years in showbusiness.

In the 1950s, he was considered Britain’s first rock’n’roll star and teen pop idol, with hits including Singing The Blues earning comparisons to Elvis Presley.

He went on to star in films including the 1967 musical Half A Sixpence, in which – as well as the title track – he sang Flash, Bang, Wallop!

Sir Tommy Steele, 84, pictured with his honour, said Princess Anne revealing she knew all about his career was the ‘highlight of the highlights’ of his 65 years in showbusiness

Sir Tommy Steele, 84, pictured with his honour, said Princess Anne revealing she knew all about his career was the ‘highlight of the highlights’ of his 65 years in showbusiness

The Princess Royal told him she ‘knew all about’ his career as she knighted him at Windsor Castle

The Princess Royal told him she ‘knew all about’ his career as she knighted him at Windsor Castle

Sir Tommy was born Thomas Hicks, Bermondsey in south-east London in December 1936. He received the honor for his services to entertainment as well as to charity.

He said Princess Anne spoke to him about his career ‘and she knew all about it’, adding: ‘It has been like a very important first night in the theatre.

‘It is like you are blessed by something that has been happening for centuries and then all of a sudden, you find that as an actor you have got the part.’

Just four months before his first hit record, Rock With The Caveman (which he co-wrote with Lionel Bart), Steele, was a merchant seaman, travelling the world and teaching himself how to play a £1.50 guitar he’d bought from a fellow sailor.

In the 1950s, Sir Tommy was considered Britain’s first rock’n’roll star and teen pop idol, with hits including Singing The Blues earning comparisons to Elvis Presley

In the 1950s, Sir Tommy was considered Britain’s first rock’n’roll star and teen pop idol, with hits including Singing The Blues earning comparisons to Elvis Presley

His big break came in 1956 when, during shore leave, he was spotted singing and playing Elvis’s Blue Suede Shoes in a Soho coffee bar. He’d bought the sheet music weeks before in New York.

A few days later, Decca bought him.

After hundreds of admirers bent their arms and pulled hair out in an avalanche, the star fell unconscious at Dundee Royal Infirmary.

In 1980, he received the OBE. 

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