Here’s Why Dolly Parton Turned Down Tea With Kate Middleton

Kate Middleton may be the Princess of Wales, but the Queen of Country runs on her own schedule. In an interview with BBC Radio 2‘s Claudia Winkleman, Dolly Parton revealed that she was recently invited to have tea with the royal, though she had to turn it down for album promotion reasons.

“This time, Lordy, I even got invited to have tea with Kate,” Parton told BBC Radio 2 after she was asked whether she planned on exploring London while in the city for her promotion cycle. “And I felt so bad … I couldn’t even go! [My team] had all this stuff set up.”

“But I thought that was very sweet and nice of her to invite me to tea,” the “Jolene” singer continued. “And one of these days I’m going to get to do that … That would be great!”

Parton, who’s currently gearing up for the November release her album Rockstar, went on to joke that the future queen “wasn’t going to promote my rock album, so I had to say no.” She added, “I hope she hears it though!”

Be that as it may, there are some English members of rock ‘n’ roll helping out with Parton’s new record. The Beatles’ Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, as well as Fleetwood Mac founder Mick Fleetwood, are featured on Parton’s cover of “Let It Be,” which she dropped on Aug. 18. Debuting at No. 2 on Rock Digital Song Sales, No. 15 on Country Digital Song Sales and No. 22 on the all-genre Digital Song Sales chart, the song marked the first featuring McCartney and Starr — or any of the four Beatles, including the late George Harrison and John Lennon — to be credited together on an entry on a Billboard songs chart outside the Beatles.

A handful of new original songs will be included on Parton’s first ever rock album, but much of it will be made up of covers featuring dozens of rock stars who’ve dominated the charts through the ages. Sting, Joan Jett, Stevie Nicks, Elton John and Debbie Harry are all on the billing, as are Miley Cyrus, Pink, Lizzo and Brandi Carlisle.