Prince William calls Dame Barbara Windsor a ‘national treasure’ as he hails EastEnders icon

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Prince William has tonight paid tribute to the ‘national treasure’ Dame Barbara Windsor by taking the stage at a Christmas pantomime.

The fitting tribute, given Dame Barbara’s frequent appearance as a pantomime star, saw Prince William, 38, briefly leave his family in the Royal Box to deliver a short speech on The London Palladium’s stage, in the West End.

Addressing the audience ahead of the show, the Duke of Cambridge said: ‘Before I go on, I want to pause and pay tribute to a true national treasure, Dame Barbara Windsor, who so sadly passed away last night.

‘She was a giant of the entertainment world, and of course a legend on pantomime stages across the country including here at the London Palladium. And I know we’ll all miss her hugely.’ 

The star died at a London care home on Thursday night at the age of 83 following a long battle with Alzheimer’s. 

In a rare public outing this evening, an excited Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis watched a performance of Pantoland – staring Julian Clary, Elaine Paige and a host of stars – with parents William and Kate in the royal box.

The special show was staged at the London Palladium to thank key workers from across the capital and their families for their efforts during the pandemic.

It was the Cambridges’ first red carpet engagement as a family of five.

The children, who appeared apprehensive when they arrived, relaxed and looked on with glee as they took their seats and saw their father making a speech before the performance.  

Earlier this week the duke and duchess travelled 1,250 miles around the country, during a three-day tour on the royal train, to thank frontline and key workers, communities and individuals for their efforts during the pandemic. 

William added: ‘We are here tonight for a very special performance. Special, because of you – the key workers here in the audience.

‘You include community workers, volunteers, teachers, NHS staff, representatives from the emergency services and military, researchers working on the vaccine, people helping the homeless, those manning vital call centres, and staff from a wide range of frontline charities – to name but a few.

‘You have given your absolute all this year, and made remarkable sacrifices.’

When William returned to the box, there was a swift shuffling of seats, as the duke sat between his eldest son and daughter, leaving Charlotte briefly holding her face in her hand for some reason, as Louis sat on Kate’s lap.

Guests were encouraged to wear a Christmas jumper and while Kate wore a dress by Alessandra Rich, William had on a festive red pullover.

When the Cambridges first arrived George, aged seven, Charlotte, aged five, and two-year-old Louis stopped briefly to watch actors dressed as elves entertaining the guests on the red carpet.

The young royals were photographed meeting Sir David Attenborough at their Kensington Palace home in September, when he came to watch his new film with their father.

And the children also went to see Kate’s garden at the Chelsea Flower Show last year.

Earlier today Prince Charles also remembered the ‘Great British actor and campaigner’ Dame Barbara while the BBC said Walford had ‘lost its Dame’.

Boris Johnson also paid tribute saying she ‘cheered the world up with her own British brand of harmless sauciness and innocent scandal’ while David Walliams called her ‘the unofficial Queen of England’ and an ‘icon treasured by the nation’. 

Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, called her ‘a great British actor and tireless charity campaigner who will be deeply missed’, sharing photographs of them laughing with her at royal engagements in recent years.

Famed for her infectious laugh and baring all in the Carry On films, the east London-born actress universally known as ‘Babs’, boasted a 66-year career in showbiz, first appearing on stage aged 13 before retiring four years ago aged 79 as dementia took its toll forcing the 4ft 10ins actress to stop playing fearsome landlady Peggy Mitchell on EastEnders.

The BBC said in a statement: ‘We are all deeply saddened that that we’ve lost our Dame. From the moment Barbara stepped foot in Walford she created an icon in Peggy Mitchell, our formidable Landlady, who the audience instantly fell in love with.

‘But to all of us at EastEnders, she was our dearest friend who was truly loved and adored by everyone. Our thoughts go out to Scott and Barbara’s family. Rest in peace Dame Barbara Windsor, MBE.’

While her lifelong friend Sir Elton John tweeted: ‘The world has lost the biggest ray of light. And heaven has the sweetest and funniest angel’. Patsy Palmer, who played Bianca Jackson in EastEnders, said: ‘I can hear that laugh now as I sit and think about her. I hope it’ll ring in my ears forever.’ Joan Collins said: ‘Showbusiness has lost a legend’ while Shane Richie said: ‘There are no words. She will always be my Duchess’.

She is survived by her third husband Scott Mitchell, who announced this morning that his ‘best friend and soul mate’ passed away peacefully in a London care home at 8.35pm on Thursday. He had moved into her home a few days earlier to be by her side when she died.

Dame Barbara had no children, often saying she never regretted it because of the way she had been rejected by her own father, and spoke candidly about having five abortions in her life. 

Mr Mitchell said his wife’s final weeks were ‘typical of how she lived her life’ and were ‘full of humour, drama and a fighting spirit until the end’. 

Dame Barbara became one of the most famous faces on British screens for her fun-filled saucy roles in the Carry On comedies of the 1960s and 70s before before becoming the no-nonsense Queen Vic landlady Peggy Mitchell. As she bravely fought Alzheimer’s in the final years of her life, she turned her energies to campaigning to protect those with dementia, the vulnerable and the lonely as well her passionate support of the Armed Forces through the Poppy Appeal.   

The actress – who was made a Dame by the Queen in 2016 – announced she was suffering from Alzheimer’s in 2018, having been diagnosed four years earlier. She moved to a care home in July, five months before she died.

Her death revealed in a statement by her husband Scott Mitchell, 57, said: ‘Her passing was from Alzheimer’s/Dementia and Barbara eventually died peacefully and I spent the last seven days by her side.

‘Myself, her family and friends will remember Barbara with love, a smile and affection for the many years of her love, fun, friendship and brightness she brought to all our lives and the entertainment she gave to so many thousands of others during her career.’

He added: ‘It was not the ending that Barbara or anyone else living with this very cruel disease deserve. I will always be immensely proud of Barbara’s courage, dignity and generosity dealing with her own illness and still trying to help others by raising awareness for as long as she could.’

At the end of his moving tribute, Mr Mitchell said: ‘May you rest in peace now my precious Bar. I’ve lost my wife, my best friend and soul mate and my heart or life will never feel the same without you.’   

Born as Barbara Deeks to a market stall trader father and dressmaker mother in London’s Shoreditch in 1937, Dame Barbara began her stage career aged 13 and move to films four years later having taken the stage name Windsor in 1953, inspired by the Queen’s coronation.

It was in the Carry On films that she found lasting fame, playing good-time-girl characters who laughed along with Sid James, Kenneth Williams and the others in nine of the iconic comedies.

Carry On Camping was voted the nation’s favourite of the bawdy films, and the scene in which her bikini top pinged off during an exercise class would define this stage of her career. 

Three-times-married Dame Barbara’s off-screen life was often as colourful as the characters she portrayed. In her Swinging Sixties heyday she hung around with notorious East End gangsters Ronnie and Reggie Kray, and married their associate Ronnie Knight.

After finding huge success in the Carry On films, her acting work dried up and her career appeared to be fading – before she bagged the role as Peggy in EastEnders.

Dame Barbara found a new audience in EastEnders as hard-faced Peggy, beloved ‘mum’ to Walford hard-men Grant and Phil Mitchell. It was a role she played on-and-off for 22 years, ejecting unwelcome drinkers from her Queen Vic but with a trademark scream: ‘Get outta my pub!’ 

She was made a dame in the 2016 New Year’s Honours list, for her services to charity and entertainment. 

She was an avid campaigner for the NHS and for many years was the face of the annual British legion appeal and an ambassador for Age UK.

The Dame was also a self-proclaimed ‘Tory and fervent nationalist’ and once declared that anyone who didn’t wear a poppy for Remembrance Day should ‘sod off’.

After being nominated for her Damehood, at a time when she was suffering privately from the illness that would take her life, the actress said: ‘I am so very honoured, proud and extremely humbled by this honour. 

‘I feel so lucky to live in a country I love, a job I have always adored which has allowed me to be in a position where I am able to help others.

‘For a girl from the East End born into a working-class family and an evacuee during World War Two, this is truly like a dream. 

‘I am so happy and blessed to say it’s real.’ 

The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall’s Clarence House Twitter account shared a tribute to Dame Barbara Windsor.

It accompanied an image of the actress shortly after she was created a dame at Buckingham Palace and said: ‘Dame Barbara Windsor – a great British actor and tireless charity campaigner who will be deeply missed.’

Babs’ EastEnders’ family are united in grief today.

June Brown, known for playing Dot Cotton on EastEnders, recalled her time on the soap with Dame Barbara Windsor.

She said: ‘I’m thinking of Babs as she was when she came in to EastEnders as Peggy Mitchell – tiny, bright, bubbly, pretty and friendly to everyone. She soon became loved by all the cast.

‘We became great friends. We had adjoining dressing room and she was always popping in for coffee, and we’d go to lunch together; she kept me up to date with all the gossip. I wished we’d had more scenes together but our only one was in her last episode, when Dot said goodbye to Peggy, knowing that she was dying.’

Brown said the pair talked regularly on the phone following Dame Barbara’s departure from the soap.

She added: ‘In our last phone call she asked me several times where I was – I finally said ‘I’m at home’ and her comment was ‘I’d like to come to your home’, but it was too late for that.

‘At this time, I’m thinking of her very loving husband Scott, who has created a legacy for her by training to run marathons in her name, owing to her great popularity, to raise an enormous amount of money in aid of the charity Dementia Revolution.

‘They had such a happy marriage; they were like two children, always laughing together. While I’m still here, she’ll always be alive in my mind.’

Shane Richie said Dame Barbara Windsor was ‘a people’s person’. The actor, who has starred alongside Dame Barbara in EastEnders, made the comments while presenting the BBC’s The One Show.

He said: ‘She really was a people’s person, she absolutely loved the general public.’

Discussing his appearance, he said: ‘I’m wearing a suit and I wouldn’t normally wear a suit. Babs always used to say to me, ‘Sweetheart, if you want to be a star, look like a star, alright darling’. And that’s why I’m wearing one.’

Richie added: ‘The general public adored her, from the Carry On films right up to Peggy Mitchell.’ 

Actors Steve McFadden and Letitia Dean also paid tribute.

McFadden, who plays Dame Barbara’s on-screen son Phil Mitchell, said: ‘I truly loved Barbara and, like everyone, I am going to miss her terribly.

‘When anyone ever asked what she was like, I would always say she was everything you would hope she would be, and more,’ he said. 

Letitia Dean, who stars as Sharon Mitchell, said: ‘I would like to say what utterly heartbreaking news I woke up to this morning.

‘They broke the mould when they made Dame Barbara Windsor, there will never be another like that incredible woman, everyone who met her loved her and she will be deeply missed.

‘I would like to send everything I have to her amazing husband Scott, what a beautiful soul he is. My heart goes out to him and I just wish I could give him the biggest cuddle he has ever had. RIP dearest Barbara. You will be missed beyond measure.’ 

EastEnders star Danny Dyer wrote on Instagram: ‘Rest in Peace Babs. There is only one Dame in my eyes. So grateful to have known ya. You was a beautiful rare one.’

EastEnders star Adam Woodyatt paid tribute to Dame Barbara Windsor. 

‘I grew up watching ‘Babs’ in the Carry On films, and for me to then work with her was a privilege and honour,’ the actor, who plays Ian Beale in the soap, said.

‘I have so many happy memories and moments that I will always cherish, even when Peggy floored Ian with a punch.

‘My thoughts are with her amazing husband Scott, her family and friends. Rest in Peace Barbara xxxx,’ he said in a statement.  

Former Albert Square co-star Patsy Palmer, who played Bianca Jackson, said: ‘We were like family for a long time, ups downs, ins and outs, but you will never meet a more professional actress than Babs… I can hear that laugh now as I sit and think about her. I hope it’ll ring in my ears forever.’ 

Diane Parish, who played Denise Fox in EastEnders, paid tribute to Dame Barbara Windsor in a statement to the PA news agency: ‘Our dearest friend and colleague has passed and left a hole, not only on our screens, but in our nation that cannot be filled.

‘I will remember her kindness and of course laughter.

‘She made the special effort to spend time and say something meaningful to each and every person the last time we saw her at work. So sorry for her loss for you Scott.

‘Little lady, Big presence. Sleep in peace Bar.’

Former co-star Larry Lamb today said Dame Barbara’s appreciation to be given a role in the BBC soap always shone through.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘We had lots of conversations that ranged over all sorts of subjects. I remember her saying the years in between were tough when she was trying to put together enough money to live off. 

‘And it was really really hard because there were those lean years after the Carry On films and she was in the wilderness, and the one thing she never made any bones about was that EastEnders really changed her life and put her back on the map and gave her the means to earn a good living, and that’s what she went on to do.’

Lamb added: ‘She was definitely the head girl at EastEnders, she knew how to be the leading lady… The word star gets bandied about a bit these days but she really was a star.’

David Walliams called her the ‘unofficial Queen of England’ and said: ‘You were my first love as a child in the Carry On films and I will love you forever. Working with you, spending time with you and being your friend was one of the greatest thrills of my life.’  

Dame Barbara’s close friend and fellow Carry On star Amanda Barrie remembered that side of the actress today and fondly said there was ‘a less likely dame you’ve ever met’.

She recalled working together at Winston’s night club on Bond Street in 1957, where they would get dressed in the meat safe which doubled as the backstage area.

‘They’d come in to get some steaks and over our heads would be dripped blood. Barbara would be like, ‘Mind my make up!’,’ she told ITV’s GMB.

Barrie said the last time she saw the actress was at her 80th birthday party three years ago: ‘She was frail but she knew me… She knew me and she remembered the things that I would prefer to remember. Life does awful things and it’s not fair…’  

Dame Joan Collins – who starred in American soap Dynasty throughout the 1980s – wrote on Instagram: ‘Show business has lost a legend. Barbara Windsor: You will be missed.’ 

Dame Barbara enjoyed a precocious childhood, passing her 11-plus a year early with ‘the highest mark in north London’. Her mother sent her for elocution lessons and encouraged her towards the stage, sending her for training at the Aida Foster School in Golders Green.

She appeared in panto aged 13 and cut her showbiz teeth in TV variety shows, singing numbers with risqué titles such as My Hair, My Teeth, My Bosom, beside comedians Ken Dodd and Benny Hill.

She later received a BAFTA Award nomination for Sparrows Can’t Sing in 1963, and a Tony award nomination for the Broadway production of Oh, What A Lovely War! in 1964.

That was the year she married Ronnie Knight – who had already served time for handling stolen goods and who, with his brothers, was a noted friend of the Kray Twins and their circle. Barbara herself had a one-night stand with Reggie Kray and a longer fling with his brother Charlie.

During this marriage she had a much-publicised affair with Carry On co-star Sid James, and was devastated by his death in 1976. 

Her marriage to Knight lasted until 1985, during which time he was linked to numerous high-profile crimes including being arrested for the murder of a man who himself had killed Knight’s brother David.

In 1984 Knight fled to the Costa del Sol amid links to a £6m robbery at a Security Express depot a year earlier. He would later get seven years for handing £300,000 in stolen cash.

Meanwhile Barbara divorced him and in 1986 wed chef Stephen Hollings in Jamaica.

The pair moved to Amersham, Bucks, and bought the Plough Inn to run together – an echo of her future EastEnders role – but the venture collapsed along with their marriage.

The pair divorced in 1995, a year after Dame Barbara’s EastEnders debut. Peggy Mitchell became the role she will be best-remembered for and won her a string of awards, including Best Actress at the 1999 British Soap Awards and a Lifetime Achievement in the 2009 version of the event.

She left for two years between 2003 and 2005, announced she would quit in 2009, but then returned for one-off episodes in 2013, 2014 and 2015.

The workload was frenetic, but she was the soap’s biggest name for the next 15 years — running Albert Square’s Queen Vic until Phil burned it down in 2010.

Her last appearance aired on May 17, 2016 when Peggy took her own life after being diagnosed with terminal cancer.

In 2016, Barbara won the Outstanding Contribution Award at the TV Choice Awards. She was also awarded Best Exit at the Inside Soap Awards for her portrayal of Peggy’s death.

Her marriage to former actor Scott Mitchell in 2000 raised eyebrows – they met when she was 55 and him 28 – and she admitted herself people didn’t expect it to last.

But the pair became inseparable and it was he who stayed by her side during her battle with dementia – telling this morning how he didn’t leave her side in the final week of her life.

Dame Barbara never had children and spoke openly about having had five abortions, but in 2017 she said that she did not regret not becoming a mother.

‘I consider myself to be a warm and lovely person but I never had any maternal feelings,’ she said. 

Both Dame Barbara and her husband campaigned to raise awareness of Alzheimer’s following her diagnosis.

In 2019, she delivered a letter to Boris Johnson pleading for better dementia provisions for sufferers.

That same year, her husband – and former EastEnders co-stars – raised more than £150,000 by running the London Marathon in aid of a dementia campaign.

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden described her as a ‘national treasure’. Speaking to BBC Breakfast, he said that as MP for Elstree in north London, where Eastenders is filmed, he was ‘MP for Albert Square’.

The minister said she was the ‘greatest landlady Albert Square ever had… It is a really sad loss to our national life.’

 

Walford salutes its Queen: EastEnders stars Jessie Wallace, Adam Woodyatt, Steve McFadden and Patsy Palmer pay tribute to Barbara Windsor as she dies aged 83

Dame Barbara Windsor starred on EastEnders as pub landlady Peggy Mitchell on and off from 1994 to 2016 and was famous for her catchphrase: ‘Get outta ma pub!’

And her former castmates took to social media in their droves to pay tribute to the TV legend after learning she had passed away aged 83 following her battle with Alzheimer’s disease.

Barbara died at 8.35pm on Thursday at a London care home, her husband Scott Mitchell, 57, confirmed. 

Jessie Wallace, 49, who played Kat Slater wrote: ‘My darling Barbara. So heartbroken to hear you have left us. I love you.’ 

Adam Woodyatt, 52, whose character Ian Beale was once punched on the show by Peggy, called it an ‘honour and a privilege to have known Barbara, in a sweet Instagram post on Friday morning. 

Sharing a photograph of them, he wrote: ‘I took this when Dame Barbara was filming her last episodes of EastEnders in 2016.

‘I grew up watching Babs in the Carry On films and for me to then work with her it was a privilege and honour. 

‘I have so many happy memories and moments that I will always cherish, even when Peggy floored Ian with a punch. My thoughts are with her amazing husband Scott, her family and friends. Rest in peace Barbara xxxx.’

A representative for Steve McFadden, who plays Dame Barbara’s on-screen son Phil Mitchell, said he was ‘devastated’ by her death as he led tributes for the beloved actress.

Patsy Palmer, 48, who played Bianca Jackson, wrote in the comments: ‘So so sad. Just thinking of us all in the reception when we all used to sit there!!!’

She also shared some pictures of herself with Barbara on her own account and wrote: ‘Verified I’m extremely sad to hear that my friend ‘Dame’ Babara Windsor has passed away. 

‘I’m sitting here thinking of the 100’s of memories we shared . Too many to comprehend. We were like family for a long time, ups downs , ins and outs but you will never meet a more professional actress than Babs. 

‘@scott.mitchell3 You were the best husband she could’ve wished for. You deserve the highest accolade. We shared such magical times together and I’ll cherish every one. 

‘I can hear that laugh now as I sit and think about her. I hope it’ll ring in my ears forever. She always looked out for me and so did you . Love you both very much . I’m gutted ! I could say so much but I’m so sad. RIP BABS.’ 

Pam St Clement, 78, who played Peggy’s love rival, Pat Butcher, spoke about her on This Morning on Friday morning. 

Soap icon Pam said she and Barbara used to hang the glasses on top of the bar and Barbara was quite small so she would wash up the glasses and they would wonder how she’d reach it.

She said: ‘Bless her she said to me, ‘please tell me if I’m not doing anything right,’ but she settled into that beautifully.

She said Barbara’s husband Scott had been keeping her up to date with her health. 

‘We’ve kept in close contact, he’s kept me up to speed with it. Nobody could visit her with the lockdown, it was impossible, it was sad in a sense which means I haven’t seen her in nearly in a year and that’s sad.’ 

Former EastEnders co-star Larry Lamb who played Archie Mitchell, her onscreen husband in the show paid tribute to a ‘tough and beautiful little lady’ on Friday.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme: ‘She was definitely the head girl at EastEnders, she knew how to be the leading lady. The word star gets bandied about a bit these days but she really was a star.’

The actor said that Dame Barbara’s gratefulness she was given a role in the BBC soap always shone through.

He said: ‘We had lots of conversations that ranged over all sorts of subjects. I remember her saying the years in between were tough when she was trying to put together enough money to live off.

‘And it was really really hard because there were those lean years after the Carry On films and she was in the wilderness, and the one thing she never made any bones about was that Eastenders really changed her life and put her back on the map and gave her the means to earn a good living, and that’s what she went on to do.’

Danny Dyer, 43, whose character, Mick Carter took over the Queen Vic pub, wrote: Rest in Peace Babs. There is only one Dame in my eyes. So grateful to have known ya. You was a beautiful rare one. ❤️❤️❤️.’

Danniella Westbrook, 47, who played her onscreen daughter Sam Mitchell, said on BBC Breakfast on Friday: ‘She was the most feisty, hardworking woman I’ve ever met in my life. 

‘I learned everything I know from her work-wise. She taught me how to listen. The woman was phenomenal. 

‘She did pages and pages of learning and walked into the Queen Vic and it was like she was always meant to have been there.

‘She raised the game of the whole show.’ 

Martin Kemp, 59, who played Steve Owen, spoke to his son Roman, 27, on his Capital Radio Breakfast show,. 

He said: ‘Yeah, I mean, I worked with her for a good couple of years in EastEnders and she was behind the bar and I used to sit there for hours talking to her, and I tell you why, because before I did EastEnders I had shot The Krays … and she used to be close to some of those, and to Reggie Kray, and she was absolutely – I can’t tell you – one of the most beautiful people I’ve ever met. 

‘She was one of life’s good people, and I find it really sad this morning. My heart goes out to Scott, who’s lost her, and just… I can’t tell you how nice she was Ro, she was just beautiful.’

Robert Kazinsky, 37, who plays Sean Slater, tweeted: ‘What a joy it was to have known and worked with her. To have her tell me to ‘Gerrout mah pub,’ to have shared so many chats on rainy days. 

Tamzin Outhwaite, 50, who played Mel Owen, tweeted: ‘Meant to be sleeping but can’t…. RIP Barbara Windsor…’ 

Ricky J Norwood, 34, who played Fatboy, wrote: ‘RIP Barbara Windsor. Such sad news to wake up to. I was lucky enough to work with her on @bbceastenders.. full of energy,

‘Big smile, so warm and welcoming. Thank you x It meant a lot. Loved that you always had time for young actors and fans. Legend. We miss you already.’ 

Barbara’s husband Scott described the EastEnders legend’s final weeks as ‘typical of how she lived her life’ and ‘full of humour, drama and a fighting spirit until the end’.

 

An East End legend from her days with the Krays to ordering enemies ‘Get outta my pub’ – how 4ft 10in ‘Babs’ towered over British showbusiness for more than 60 years 

An East End legend from her days with the Krays to ordering enemies to ‘Get outta my pub’ – 4ft 10in ‘Babs’ towered over British showbusiness for more than 60 years. 

The 83-year-old cockney heroine Dame Barbara Windsor died on Thursday evening at a London care home after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease six years ago.

With her irresistible chuckling laugh and signature crop of bright blonde hair, she became one the nation’s stars as a buxom blonde in the Carry On films.

She was born Barbara Ann Deeks on August 6, 1937, in Shoreditch in east London to father John, a barrow boy, and her dressmaker mother Rose.

From an early age Dame Barbara was sent to elocution lessons by her mother, who she once described as a ‘snobby east-ender’.

At 15, her parents divorced and she was required to give evidence in court, but her testimony caused her father to abandon her. The pair never properly resolved their feud.

She later said that the moment ‘haunted’ her for years, because she was a ‘daddy’s girl’ and she had not been able to share his side of the story.

Dame Barbara’s first film appearance came in 1954’s The Belles Of St Trinians, but it was not until her appearances in the Carry On films that she rose to national prominence.

The star’s debut in the comedy series saw her star alongside Bernard Cribbins in Carry On Spying in 1964.

She appeared in nine of the 31 Carry On films, but was mostly associated with Carry On Camping and the memorable and risque scene in which her bikini top springs off during an exercise routine.

With her blonde hair and infectious giggle, the 4ft 10ins star instantly became popular with audiences, before her final appearance in 1974’s Carry On Dick.

She later said that she was typecast after appearing in the films.

‘Years after it ended, no-one would give me a part where I played my age,’ she told the Daily Express in 2007.

‘People would get tunnel vision and only see the Carry On films.’

Other roles over the years included a small part in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, opposite Dick Van Dyke, Ken Russell’s The Boy Friend and On The Fiddle with Sean Connery.

As well as her screen career, Dame Barbara was known for treading the boards, having made her stage debut at the age of 13, before going on to land her first West End role in the chorus of Love From Judy in 1952.

She also starred on Broadway in a production of Oh, What A Lovely War!, for which she was nominated for a Tony Award.

Years later, fame came knocking again for Dame Barbara when she made her debut as Peggy Mitchell in EastEnders in 1994, starring alongside Ross Kemp and Steve McFadden as her fictional sons Grant and Phil, and Mike Reid as on-screen husband Frank Butcher.

A beloved member of the cast, she was at the heart of many of the soap’s most famous storylines. 

Peggy’s storylines saw her instigate a hate campaign against HIV positive Mark Fowler, played by Todd Carty. She started an affair with Frank Butcher, engaged in cat-fights with his ex-wife Pat, escaped two failed marriages, and lost and regained ownership of the Queen Vic pub countless times.

When her character contracted breast cancer, she wrote many letters of advice to viewers who contacted her about their own struggles with the disease.

In 2003, Dame Barbara suffered an attack of Epstein-Barr virus which forced her to take a break from EastEnders from 2003 to 2005. She returned briefly for two episodes in 2004.

In 2009, Dame Barbara announced she would be leaving the soap for good in order to spend more time with her third husband Scott Mitchell, who she married in 2000 and who was 25 years her junior.

The following year her character exited the soap after a fire at her pub.

She popped up on handful of occasions over the years before reprising the role for a final time in 2016, where it was announced that Peggy would be killed off after losing her battle with breast cancer.

Her final scenes aired in May 2016 in an emotional episode that left viewers weeping.

Her performances as Peggy earned her numerous awards including best actress at the 1999 British Soap Awards and best exit at the 2016 Inside Soap Awards.

But her most prestigious accolade came in 2016, when she was made a Dame in for her services to charity and entertainment from The Queen.

At the time, she said: ‘I am so very honoured, proud and extremely humbled by this honour.

‘I feel so lucky to live in a country I love, a job I have always adored which has allowed me to be in a position where I am able to help others.

‘For a girl from the East End born into a working-class family and an evacuee during World War Two, this is truly like a dream. I am so happy and blessed to say it’s real.

As well as her EastEnders role dominating her later years, in 2010 she voiced Mallymkun the Dormouse in Tim Burton’s live action adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s Alice In Wonderland and in 2016’s Alice Through The Looking Glass.

In 2017, the BBC aired a biopic film called Babs, charting her rise to fame, penned by EastEnders scriptwriter Tony Jordan and starring Jaime Winstone and Samantha Spiro as younger versions of the star.

She said watching it back and reliving the biggest moments in her life was a ‘very emotional experience for me’.

‘I managed to get through it without completely breaking down but at the end I stood up and walked out of the room and had a good cry,’ she added.

Much of what was shown in the film focused on her showbiz career, which had been dogged by heartache – from her strained relationship with her father to her relationship woes.

While happily married to former actor and recruitment consultant Mr Mitchell in her later years, the actress had a more turbulent personal life before settling down with him.

She married Ronnie Knight, an associate of the notorious criminals Ronald and Reginald Kray, in 1964, but during their marriage, Dame Barbara had a well-publicised affair with her Carry On co-star Sid James.

She divorced Knight 21 years after they married when he fled to Spain, wanted by police in connection with the £6 million Security Express robbery in 1983.

In 1986 she married chef Stephen Hollings, 20 years her junior. They opened a pub together in Amersham in Buckinghamshire, but divorced after nine years.

She married Mr Mitchell in 2000, after first meeting him in 1992.

Dame Barbara never had children and spoke openly about having had five abortions, but in 2017 she said that she did not regret not becoming a mother.

‘I consider myself to be a warm and lovely person but I never had any maternal feelings,’ she told The Sun in 2017.

In May 2018, Mr Mitchell revealed in an interview that Dame Barbara had been living with Alzheimer’s after being diagnosed in April 2014.

In August 2020 Mr Mitchell revealed that Dame Barbara had been moved to a care home as she struggled with her advancing dementia.

A heartbroken Mr Mitchell said the former EastEnders star left the couple’s home in mid-July.

Speaking to The Sun, he said: ‘I feel I’m on an emotional rollercoaster. I walk around, trying to keep busy, then burst into tears. It feels like a bereavement.

‘It’s always been my biggest fear, that one day I would have to take her somewhere and she’d be thinking, ‘Why would he do this to me?’

‘That fear has become a reality. It’s something I never wanted.’ 

Mr Mitchell, Dame Barbara’s husband of 20 years, said she had moved to a care home in London and he had decorated her room to make it as welcoming as possible.

The actress and Mr Mitchell campaigned throughout her illness to raise awareness, and in 2019 they visited Downing Street for a meeting about dementia – during which she showed off her cheeky side by asking Prime Minister Boris Johnson for a kiss.

Dame Barbara delivered a letter signed by 100,000 people to Mr Johnson pleading for better care for fellow sufferers.

Mr Johnson held the ailing actress’ hand as they sat in the garden, discussing the limitations of dementia care in the UK.

At the end of their afternoon chat, Dame Barbara turned to the Conservative leader and asked: ‘Can I have a kiss?’.

Among those supporting her since her diagnosis was her close friend and former EastEnders co-star Ross Kemp.

Kemp, who played Grant Mitchell on Albert Square for more than 25 years alongside Dame Barbara as his on-screen mother, went on to make an ITV programme called Living With Dementia.

In the programme, which aired in June 2020, Kemp, 56, explained that her illness was the reason he decided to explore the disease on screen.