Dame Shirley Bassey has said she was so nervous about receiving an honour from the King that she forgot to curtsy, joking that she “grabbed him” instead.

Dame Shirley, 87, was made a Companion of Honour in the New Year Honours list for services to music and said she had been more anxious at Windsor Castle than she had been singing for royalty.

After receiving the award on Tuesday, Dame Shirley, who picked up the honour with her daughter Sharon, her grandson Sebastian and her great-granddaughter Sofia, said it was her first time meeting Charles as King.

She said: “I think it’s more nerve-racking to receive the award from him than to sing in front of him. I mean, it’s new, different, whereas singing I’ve been doing since I was a child.

“I forgot to curtsy, but that’s why I grabbed his hands because I forgot to curtsy. Instinctive.”

She said the King had complimented her on her outfit, a sparkly black and white Isabell Kristensen dress.

“I asked him how he was, and he said he was fine and said: ‘You look wonderful,’” she said.

“He wished me all the best and then I grabbed him – I know I shouldn’t have done that. But I grabbed both his hands and said: ‘I wish you well.’”

Asked what it was like to be dubbed an “icon”, Dame Shirley said: “It can be very nice, and it can be very isolating and a nuisance – especially if you’re in a restaurant and people come and sit at your table uninvited.”

She said the most glamorous moment of her life was the first time she sang for the late Queen at the Royal Variety Performance.

“I’ve had 70 years of glamorous moments,” she said.

“I think the first time I sang for the Queen at the Royal Variety – my very first show. And then I did quite a few after and was very blase about it.”

She was made a Dame in 1999 and has now been made Companion of Honour, which recognises those who have made a major contribution to the arts, science, medicine, or public life.