A - R e b o u r s: February 2010

Thursday 11 February 2010

'Meeting the Queen was like falling in love'

Joyce McQueen: I would have liked to have invited the late Peter Ustinov for dinner, for his wit and conversation. Who would you like as a dinner guest and why?
Alexander McQueen: What, if I could choose anyone?
JM: Anyone in the world.
AM: Elizabeth I ...
JM: Why would you want Elizabeth I? The history maybe?
AM: 'Cause she's an anarchist.
JM: She's an anarchist?
AM: She was an anarchist, yeah. Do you want to have a bit of debate on this?
JM: Well, not at the moment, no.
AM: Because, y'know, she kind of founded the Church of England under her father, with all the upheaval from the French and the Scottish ...
JM: Who are your other ones?
AM: Jesus of Nazareth, to check if he really exists, and it's not just we've been reading some Peter Pan book for the past 2,000 years. Or Mel Gibson, to be there if Jesus wasn't true.

JM: When you received your CBE last October, you told me and Dad that you locked eyes with the Queen and it was like falling in love. What was it about her presence that captivated you?
AM: I made a pact with myself that I wasn't going to look into her eyes.
JM: But you did.
AM: I did. There was a simultaneous lock, and she started laughing, and I started laughing ...
JM: It was a nice moment, wasn't it?
AM: It was. We caught it on camera where we're both laughing at each other. She asked a question, "How long have you been a fashion designer?" and I said, "A few years, m'lady." I wasn't thinking straight - because I'd hardly had any sleep.
JM: You were nervous.
AM: I was really tired. And I looked into her eyes, it was like when you see someone across the room on a dancefloor and you think, "Whoa!" It was like when I looked into her eyes, it was obvious that she had her fair share of shit going on. I felt sorry for her. I've said a lot of stuff about the Queen in the past - she sits on her arse and she gets paid an awful lot of money for it - but for that instant I had a bit of compassion for her. So I came away feeling humbled by the situation, when I wouldn't have even been in the situation if it wasn't for you.
JM: I thought it was a great honour.
AM: I didn't want to do it.
JM: It was an honour for you ...
AM: Yeah, but I had my views on what it stands for.

JM: What is your most terrifying fear?
AM: Dying before you.
JM: Thank you, son. What makes you proud?
AM: You.
JM: Why?
AM: No, no, ask the next one: "What makes you furious?" You! [laughs]
JM: No, go on, what makes you proud?
AM: When things go right, when the collection goes right, when everyone else in the company's proud.
JM: What makes you furious?
AM: Bigotry.
JM: What makes your heart miss a beat?
AM: Love.
JM: Love for children? Love for adults? Love for animals?
AM: Falling in love.