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Olivia Newton-John had a special relationship with the Queen, once describing her as a woman she “greatly respects and admires” before the couple died just weeks apart.
The Grease star, who died in August at the age of 73, met Her Majesty several times and was honored by the Queen when she became a Dame on the 2020 Honors list.
To mark the Queen’s 94th birthday in 2020, Olivia sent her well wishes to the Queen, saying it was a “great honor” to meet her, adding that she was “so grateful” to have a to be a lady.
But in a sad twist of fate, just a month after Olivia’s passing, the Queen passed away peacefully in Balmoral at the age of 96, sending the world plunging into mourning.
Olivia Newton-John had a special relationship with the Queen, once describing her as a woman she “greatly respects and admires” before the couple died just weeks apart. (Pictured: The Queen meets Newton-John and Paul Hogan at the Sydney Opera House in 1980)
The Grease star, who died in August at the age of 73, met Her Majesty several times and was honored by the Queen when she became a Dame on the 2020 Honors list
Born in Cambridge, England, and moving to Melbourne, Australia with her family at the age of five, Newton-John received her DBE for her services to charity, cancer research and entertainment.
She also met Princess Diana in Sydney in the 1980s and first met the Queen in 1979 when she was awarded an OBE.
Newton-John was given the honor at Buckingham Palace just a year after her breakout in the movie Grease.
Just a year later, she met Her Majesty again in Sydney, when the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh were on a royal tour.
Newton-John met the Queen in 1979 when she was awarded an OBE. Newton-John was given the honor at Buckingham Palace just a year after her breakthrough role in Grease (pictured in the film with co-star John Travolta)
The couple met Newton-John and Paul Hogan at the Sydney Opera House.
Photos from the event show the Xanadu star beaming in a gorgeous red dress, while Her Majesty looked equally delighted.
Newton-John crossed paths with royalty again in 1988, when she joined Kylie Minogue, Sir Cliff Richard and Peter Allen to perform at Australia’s Bicentenary concert at Sydney’s Entertainment Centre.
The guests of honor were the then Prince and Princess of Wales, Charles and Diana.
The Queen visited Australia in 1954, 1963, 1970, 1973, 1974, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1986, 1988, 1992, 2000, 2002, 2006 and 2011 – her last time on these coasts. She is pictured in 1981
In 1990, Newton-John met the Queen’s youngest son, Prince Edward, at the Newcastle Earthquake Relief Concert
Speaking of the royal family in 2020, Newton-John said she was “beyond grateful” to have met them.
“I am extremely excited, honored and indescribably grateful to be part of such an esteemed group of women who have received this award before me,” she said at the time.
The Queen first visited Australia with Prince Philip in 1954, arriving on the SS Gothic which was steaming into Sydney Harbor after nearly six weeks at sea. She is pictured with Prince Philip in the parliament building in Canberra on that tour
“As a girl born in Cambridge I am very proud of my British heritage and so grateful to be recognized in this way by the UK.”
On the Queen’s 94th birthday in 2020, Newton-John wrote on social media: ‘Happy 94th birthday to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, a woman I greatly respect, admire and have been fortunate to meet – a great honor for me.
“I had hoped to meet her again in June for my inauguration as a Lady, but it seems unlikely for now, but I am so grateful for this prestigious recognition.”
Newton-John died peacefully on August 8 at her Southern California home surrounded by family and friends.
It came after a brave and extraordinarily public decades-long battle with cancer, during which she was diagnosed three times in 1992, 2013, and, for the last time, in 2017.
A torrent of public grief followed her death, and Victorian Prime Minister Dan Andrews offered her family a state funeral, which they accepted.
Her husband John Easterling revealed the Grease star’s dying wish before her death.
He said Newton-John and her family requested donations to her charity, the Olivia Newton-John Foundation Fund, in her memory in lieu of flowers.
The Queen’s state funeral will take place in London on Monday.
Charles III and the Royal Family have said they want to “send their heartfelt gratitude for the condolences received from around the world,” adding that they are “deeply moved by the worldwide response and affection shown for the Queen as people join them ‘in mourning the loss of Her Majesty’.
Australia has joined much of the world in mourning Queen Elizabeth II as her death marks the first change of head of state in more than seven decades. She is pictured receiving flowers from school children waving flags after a Commonwealth Day Service in Sydney in March 2006