Patricia Routledge, star of the iconic 90s British comedy Keeping Up Appearances, has made a rare TV appearance at the age of 96

Patricia Routledge on Keeping Up Appearances.

British sitcom star Dame Patricia Routledge has made a rare TV appearance, years after largely retiring from showbiz.

The 96-year-old Keeping Up Appearances actress featured in a documentary special in honour of the BBC show’s 30th anniversary, titled Keeping Up Appearances: 30 Years of Laughs.

The special, which aired in the UK at the weekend, saw Routledge reveal that the iconic comedy series – in which she played the lead role of Hyacinth Bucket – had a bevy of famous watchers, including the late Pope Benedict XVI.

Routledge added, “We were one of the Queen Mother’s favourite sitcoms, which was lovely, and the Queen enjoyed it, too.

“Hyacinth would have been flattered beyond words, and why not.”

Patricia Routledge, still going strong at 96

Routledge hasn’t played a character on TV since the 2001 television film, Anybody’s Nightmare. Keeping Up Appearances ended its five-season run in 1995.

She has appeared as herself in various documentaries in recent years, as well as stints in stage shows, but predominantly lives a quiet life on her own in the cathedral city of Chichester, England.

Routledge, who was made a ‘Dame’ by the late Queen in 2017 for her services to entertainment and charity, has never married and has no children.

In a 2001 interview with The Telegraph, she said her acting career took up a large portion of her early years.

“I didn’t make a decision not to be married and not to be a mother. Life just turned out like that because my involvement in acting was so total,” she told the publication.

Routledge’s TV appearance comes after the death of her beloved co-star Josephine Tewson in August last year.

Tewson, who played Elizabeth ‘Liz’ Warden, was 91.

Her agent, Jean Diamond of Diamond Management, said at the time: “It is with great sadness that I can confirm the passing of Josephine Tewson.

“Josephine passed away peacefully last night at Denville Hall at the age of 91.”

Denville Hall, in Hillingdon, London, is a retirement home for professional actors.