Sweet dreams are made of this: Annie Lennox awarded an OBE for her charity work

By Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 4:10 PM on 28th June 2011


Musician Annie Lennox described being awarded with the OBE by the Queen today as 'magical'.

The former Eurythmics singer was honoured for her work fighting Aids and poverty in Africa in an investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace.

Lennox, 56, said: 'It's quite magical. It's really meaningful to me that it's for charity work.

Honoured: Annie Lennox was awarded an OBE today for her charity work fighting Aids and poverty in Africa

'Campaigning has been taking up a great deal of my commitment for quite a few years, and what it means is that there's a significance to what I'm doing - I'm not just working in a void.

 

'To get this acknowledgement means people are listening.'

She met the Queen earlier this year at a Westminster Abbey service for Commonwealth Day, and said the monarch remembered the 'HIV Positive' T-shirt she wore on that occasion.

Regal: The singer, dressed in head to toe purple, greets the Queen at the investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace

Asked if she had been tempted to wear a similar T-shirt to receive her OBE, Lennox smiled and replied: 'I don't think I would have got away with wearing that.'

Instead, Lennox - accompanied by her daughters Tali and Lola - wore a purple taffeta dress with a pleated skirt, topped off with a matching vintage felt hat.

The Aberdeen-born artist's pearl accessories were not as expensive as they looked.

'Magical': Lennox said that the award was 'meaningful to me that it's for charity work'

Lennox admitted with a smile: 'My bracelet and necklace are from a Christmas cracker.'

She has sold more than 80 million albums worldwide with the Eurythmics and as a solo star, winning a string of awards including Grammys, Brits, Ivor Novellos and an Oscar.

Lennox joked that she would be happy to receive another OBE for her musical work, but said of her campaigning: "Whatever you do, you do out of a passion.

Dress to impress: The Eurythmics star told photographers that her pearls were from 'a Christmas cracker'

'You don't think about rewards, you think about what you're doing for its own value. If people then give you recognition for it, that's wonderful.'

She said her main passion was fighting for human rights, especially those of women and girls in the developing world, and added: 'I've been so affected by the issue. Those in the developing world have so few rights - we take a lot for granted in the developed world.'

Lennox now splits her time between her music and campaigning.


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