Dolly Parton Reveals Why She Turned Down Tea With Kate Middleton

Dolly Parton was forced to turn down a very exclusive invitation during a recent trip to London. The 77-year-old American treasure reveals in a new interview why she had to take a rain check on a tea date with Kate Middleton. 

"Lordy, I even got invited to have tea with Kate," Parton told Sally 'Traffic' Boazman on BBC Radio2 over the weekend while discussing her latest visit to the U.K.

Parton said that her schedule was so jam packed with album promotion for her upcoming release, Rockstar, that she couldn't fit in a meeting with the 41-year-old Princess of Wales during the trip. 

"And I felt so bad… I couldn’t even go! They had all this stuff set up," she said of her team. "I thought that was very sweet and nice of her to invite me to tea, and one of these days I'm gonna be able to get to do that and that'll be great."

With a hearty laugh, Parton continued, "But she wasn't gonna promote my rock album, so I had to say no. I hope she hears it, though!" 

Vijat Mohindra

Rockstar features nine original tracks and 21 classic covers, with legendary appearances by Miley Cyrus, Elton John, Sting, Stevie Nicks, Lizzo, Chris Stapleton and Paul McCartney, among others. The highly anticipated album is due for release on Nov. 17. 

Parton decided to create this project after being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last year, an honor she initially declined. Eventually, though, she opted to accept the distinction "gracefully," and, in response, put out an album befitting of it. No one was more excited by Parton's new music than her "rock and roller" husband, Carl Dean.

"He's one of the main reasons I did this album," Parton recently told ET. "...He's more excited about this than anything I've ever done."

"I was really pleased. Like everything I do, I ask God to bless it and to guide me in it and to let it be a blessing for everybody that's involved in it," she said. "I've made some really good friends. It's just really had a good, positive effect on everybody... It's gonna get a lot of publicity and everybody wanted to do their best for me. I wanted to do my best for them. So, because of that, we really came up with some great stuff."

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