Music legend Dusty Springfield did receive her OBE while she was in the final stages of her battle with breast cancer. The singer, who died Tuesday night, was given the honour in a private gathering at her bedside in the Royal Marsden Hospital in west London four weeks ago. Her manager Vicki Wickham said she was given special permission by Buckingham Palace to collect it on her behalf because Dusty was too ill.

Ms Wickham, who has known the singer since they met at the pilot programme of TV's Ready, Steady, Go! in 1963, said: "I called the Palace and they were magnificent. I went over to St James Palace and they gave me the OBE."

Ms Springfield, 59, died at her home in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, after a long fight against cancer. The singer, whose breast cancer was diagnosed in 1994, was awarded an OBE in the New Year Honours. Ms Wickham said: "We had a few people in to watch her get it - nurses, doctors and people she knew. She was in great spirits and thrilled to bits."

Ms Springfield is regarded as the finest female singer of her generation and had a string of hits in the 1960s. Born Mary O'Brien in north London in 1939, she began her musical career in The Springfields but left to chalk up huge chart success with her debut solo single "I Only Want To Be With You." She had hits throughout the decade as well as a series of acclaimed albums.

Author unknown,
The Guardian (London),
March 4, 1999