Proud to Be Posh ; Actress Penelope Keith has Been Accused of Being As Snooty As Her Tv Characters, but She Takes That As a Compliment. Mary Riddell Discovers the Surprising Truth Behind the Grand Exterior

Summary

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Penelope Keith has all the attributes of minor royalty. Her manner is splendidly imperious, her voice could summon a lifeboat in a force nine gale, and she is careful with her money. It is true, she says, that she owns a device for moulding bits of old soap into a block.

'I use it for washing my dogs.

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Proud to Be Posh ; Actress Penelope Keith has Been Accused of Being As Snooty As Her Tv Characters, but She Takes That As a Compliment. Mary Riddell Discovers the Surprising Truth Behind the Grand Exterior

Or I put soap scraps into a spray bottle. That is good for cleaning out the cats' litter trays. I am a child of World War II, when thrift was necessary. Then one got to the silly Seventies and Eighties, and ironing Christmas wrapping paper, which I do, was regarded as meanness. Now, I'm a great friend of the environment, aren't I? A recycler par excellence.'

Public perceptions may have altered, but she has remained immutable. As Margo Leadbetter in The Good Life and Audrey fforbes- Hamilton in To The Manor Born, she cemented her image as the Lady Bracknell o...

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