Dame Darcey Bussell makes ‘surreal’ discovery she once lived in the same house as the Queen-Rachael O'Connor-Entertainment – Metro

Dame Darcey made the astonishing discovery while filming for an upcoming documentary (Picture: WPA Pool/Getty Images)

British ballet dancer Dame Darcey Bussell has revealed she once lived in the same house as the Queen.

The former Strictly Come Dancing judge, who left in 2019, made the startling discovery during filming of a new Channel 4 series about the Queen’s passions in life.

In research for the show, Dame Darcey learned that Queen Elizabeth spent the first year of her life living at White Lodge in Richmond.

The lodge was later loaned to the Royal Ballet School where the dancer, 53, trained and boarded from the age of 13.

Speaking to the Daily Mail about the revelation, she said she was of course aware of the Queen’s links to the arts, with her being a patron of many of the companies Dame Darcey is involved in.

‘But I had no idea we had once shared a home.’

The former Strictly judge spoke about the ‘surreal’ discovery in a new interview (Picture: PA)

Queen Elizabeth lived in the house for the first year of her life, before her father was made King of England (Picture: Getty)

She also knew White Lodge had ‘royal history’ but ‘hadn’t appreciated that the Queen’s parents were living there when she was born, long before they knew that her father would become king.

‘It was completely surreal to think that the studio that I trained and sweated in as a young student was the royal family’s living room.’

Dame Darcey recalled how all the students of White Lodge knew it was ‘a special place’ but added: ‘It was nice to learn the history of somewhere I knew so well.’

Ballerina Dame Darcey studied at the prestigious White Lodge (Picture: WireImage)

During filming of Darcey Bussell’s Royal Road Trip, the dancer also recalled memories of meeting the Queen and attending the same events as her, and in a rare insight to the monarch revealed :’If she’s able to dance the night away, she will.’

She said: ‘She loved to dance with everybody who worked with her – one of the things I discovered was how much she values community.’

Dame Darcey recalled one particularly sweet memory in 2000,where a party was held at Windsor Castle for the Queen Mother’s 100th birthday as well as Prince William’s 18th.

The Queen is apparently big into dancing and would happily dance the night away at parties (Picture: PA)

She said her and her husband were dancing when she suddenly realise Queen Elizabeth was behind her, ‘dancing as well, smiling away and having a lovely time.’

After training at the Royal Ballet School, in 1989 Dame Darcey went on to become the then-youngest ever principal dancer at the Royal Ballet at just 20 years old.

In 2006 she announced she was retiring as a principal ballerina and she performed her last dance in June 2007.

She was made a dame in the Queen’s 2018 New Year Honours list for her services to dance.

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The ballerina became a judge on the Strictly panel permanently in 2012 after making several guest appearances on the BBC One show.

In April 2019 she announced she was leaving the series to focus on other dance commitments.

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