TV Gossip

The matriarch of the Royle family is to meet the real thing.

Sue Johnston is to collect her OBE from the Queen at Buckingham Palace.

The actress said she was "delighted" and "honoured" after learning she was to receive the accolade.

One of the country's most accomplished actresses, she also spent eight years playing Sheila Grant in Brookside, and other credits include Waking The Dead, drama The Street and a number of films.

Sue also received acclaim for her role as a sufferer of motor neurone disease in Goodbye Cruel World.

Johnston, 65, was born in Warrington and started her working life in a factory.