Mel B did a little dance after curtsying Prince William
Mel B did a little dance after curtsying Prince William.
The 46-year-old singer was honoured with an MBE by The Duke of Cambridge at Buckingham Palace last week for her charity work for vulnerable women as a patron for Women's Aid.
And the Spice Girl - whose full name is Melanie Brown - was so "excited and nervous" that she "spun" after curtsying in front of the 39-year-old royal and turned the gesture into a performance.
Melanie - who was joined by her mother Andrea - told HELLO!: “My mum and I were both really nervous but very excited.
“I was so pleased it was William presenting it to me. He looked really happy to see me and said: ‘I can’t believe I am giving an award to you, but I am so pleased about it and I am so pleased it’s me.’
“I explained to him I was getting it as I had been in a ten-year abusive marriage. I talked to him a bit about Women’s Aid and he was really interested.
“Afterwards, you are supposed to curtsy and walk around in a circle but I did a dancer’s move, so I did a curtsy and spun and then walked away like I was doing a West End show!”
The 'Wannabe' hitmaker - who accused her ex-husband Stephen Belafonte of being abusive when they split in 2017 - admitted it was even more "amazing" because she was receiving the honour as Melanie Brown and not Scary Spice.
She explained: “I felt like it was the most incredible day of my life.
“It felt amazing that it was me, Melanie Brown, a working- class girl from Leeds, and not Mel B the Spice Girl who had received the award.”
Mel added how important it was for her to use her "loud voice" to shine a spotlight on her fellow survivors of domestic abuse.
She added: “The MBE was for all women and especially for my late dad, because I promised him on his deathbed that I would leave my husband, and if it wasn’t for that I wouldn’t be here now. It’s all about making something terrible into something positive and about women supporting other women. I have got a loud voice; so many women suffer in silence and it’s an honour for me to be their voice.”
