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A Bit of a Chat with Dame Edna

Dame Edna Everage is a character like no other — an Australian housewife who grew into a phenomenon, a self-described "megastar and adviser to royalty," an icon in sequins under a wave of lilac hair and those trademark glittering glasses.

Making her way across North America on tour, Dame Edna stopped to talk with NPR's Scott Simon in Washington.

The diva held forth on everything from her appreciation for the United States ("the best kept secret on the planet") to her friendship with Britain's Queen Elizabeth II ("She is too dependent on me!"), with brief forays into prostate health, gynecology, and the media's speculation that she and her manager, noted Australian comedian Barry Humphries, might just be one in the same.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Scott Simon is one of America's most admired writers and broadcasters. He is the host of Weekend Edition Saturday and is one of the hosts of NPR's morning news podcast Up First. He has reported from all fifty states, five continents, and ten wars, from El Salvador to Sarajevo to Afghanistan and Iraq. His books have chronicled character and characters, in war and peace, sports and art, tragedy and comedy.