Shilpa Shetty Meets the Queen
March 14th, 2007 by dd
In a crowning moment of her stay in the UK, where she endeared herself to public after suffering racial abuses on a TV show, cinestar Shilpa Shetty met the Queen and both of them spoke on the importance of tolerance.
Queen Elizabeth II held out a black-gloved hand to Shilpa who performed a deep curtsy, standing in a line at a Commonwealth Day event at the Westminster Abbey last evening where the actress touched on issues such as racism and AIDS.
Shilpa almost tripped in her high, open-toed sandals when the Queen’s husband Prince Philip told her, “Look, be careful with your heels.”
The 31-year-old actress, whose career took an upward swing after she won the Celebrity Big Brother reality TV show, told the congregation that as a child growing up in Mumbai she was acutely aware that “we have to cope with difference on a daily basis - but unless we do, we have no future”.
The Queen, in her address to the 2,000-strong congregation, stressed the need for mutual respect and understanding.
“By respecting the difference and promoting understanding the future will be better one for us all. In today’s difficult and sometimes divided world, I believe that it is more important than ever to keep trying to respect and understand each other better,” she said.
“Let us as individuals actively seek out the views of others, let us make the best use of what our beliefs and history teach us, let us have open minds and hearts and let us, like the Commonwealth, find our diversity a cause for celebration and a source for strength and unity.”
Posted in Reality TV, India, Celebrity, Shilpa Shetty | 