WE get the feeling that Ian Carmichael would have felt at home in Buckingham Palace.

The actor has specialised in playing well-heeled nobility, from loveable buffoon Bertie Wooster to peerless detective Lord Peter Wimsey.

Even as a hospital boss in North Yorkshire drama The Royal, he oozes aristocratic bedside charm.

Now 83, Ian still has the twinkle and the timing which have delighted audiences for decades. His OBE honours a true gentleman of the stage.

Updated: 10:22 Thursday, October 23, 2003