Your new album charts a 50-year career. What's it like being a legend?

I don't think of myself as a legend. I've met many amazing people in my life; people I would call legends. Fred Astaire was a true legend, but, like me, he didn't understand it at all. He was embarrassed being called a legend. It baffled him.

You look amazing; what's your secret?

I have a simple beauty regimen of soap, water and a good moisturiser. It seems to work for me.

So you haven't been under the knife?

I've never had surgery and I wouldn't consider it, but it's up to the individual. I think it's each to their own.

You were a child star at 6. Was it too much, too young?

I never felt exploited. Not in the slightest. I started entertaining the troops by singing when I was 6, and it just built from there.

Ever hankered after a normal upbringing?

When you've been famous for so long you don't really know what being famous is like because you've always been that way. It's not Pop Idol, when you're suddenly thrown into it. That must be shocking.

Anything else you'd rather be?

You play the cards you're dealt. I was kind of shy when I was little and when I was singing I didn't feel shy, so it was a good thing for me.

Still a wilting wallflower?

I think I've overcome it to a degree, but a certain reticence remains.

Do you get the blues or do you just sing Downtown?

Sometimes I get depressed about nothing in particular. But I sometimes feel that people expect me to be up all the time and maybe I seem that way, but my optimism comes from the knowledge that one has to be optimistic, not from feeling it inside.

Seen a doc about it?

I was just always that way, very up and down. I've learnt how to deal with it.

Material girl?

I went through a phase in the 1960s when I had fur coats, jewellery, butlers and limos all the time. It just seemed to be the way things were going and I went along with it, but it doesn't impress me any more. I wrote a song about it.

Name that tune?

The lyrics go, “from the back seat of a limousine or a number 19, the scenery is the same; I can take it or leave it and I leave it quite a lot.”

So you're on the bus these days?

Yes, I love taking the bus when I'm in London, or I walk.

Is that the sum total of your exercise regimen?

I suppose it is. I feel a bit guilty about it. I know I should exercise more, but I walk a great deal and now and then I do some stretches after a long journey.

Do you limber your voice?

I never do exercises for my voice. I tried, but I didn't know what I was doing and I've always been lucky; my voice has stayed strong.

Avoid the buffet?

I watch what I eat, but that's not always easy, especially when you're travelling or doing a show.

Partial to a post-show pork pie?

When I'm on tour in the UK the only thing that's open is usually an Indian restaurant, so I go there. Otherwise I try to eat organic and get as many fruit and vegetables as I can.

Favourite tipple?

I certainly like a glass of red wine with a meal and though I'm not a cocktail girl when I'm in New York I visit Trattoria Dell'Arte, a bar opposite the Carnegie Hall stage door, for the best Cosmopolitan in the world.

Are you a gambling ma'am?

No way. I worked in Las Vegas for many years and I used to walk through the casino as if I was walking through a forest.

Never tempted to spin the roulette wheel?

No. I have a sneaking feeling that if I did, I'd like it too much.

Any bad habits?

I'm terribly punctual, which annoys me because so many people don't turn up on time and I find myself having to wait for them.

Ever forget your lines?

Never. My mind is pretty sharp.

Do any brain training?

I think having such a busy lifestyle keeps my mind sharp, but I do crosswords and read too. I think that helps. I never seem to stop doing things.

No plans to throw in the towel?

If my voice ever got creaky or cranky I'd stop and, of course, if the audience stops coming, I'll have to.

Slowing down?

I find the travelling difficult. All the hoo-ha of getting to the plane and getting from the plane. We arrived in Toronto last week and had a three-hour drive to the venue. That took it's toll, but the work still excites me.

Worrier or warrior?

I worry. Who doesn't? I worry about the things I can't do anything about. Not my career so much, but I worry about my three grown-up kids, Kate, Patrick and Bara, and the state of the world. I don't see myself as others do.

How's that?

I get the impression that people think I'm a bit vapid, that I don't care about anything, but that's untrue. I'm just reserved. People who know me would probably say I think too much.

Then And Now - The Very Best of Petula Clark, is out June 16

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