Jackie Collins receives an Order of the British Empire

Jackie Collins has been awarded an Order of the British Empire (OBE).

The erotic novelist – whose older sister is actress Joan Collins – was awarded the prestigious title for her service to fiction and charity, and met Queen Elizabeth II in person to receive her medal at the Buckingham Palace investiture ceremony on Thursday (28.11.13).

Jackie claims her conversation with the Queen avoided the nature of her X-rated books but the monarch did congratulate her successful writing career – which has seen all her novels named on the New York Times best-sellers list since her first book was published in the late 1960s.

Speaking of her meeting, the 76-year-old author said: “My first book was The World Is Full OF Married Men – banned all over the world.

“The Queen said ‘it’s quite something to write books’ and I said ‘yes especially for a school drop out’.”

Jackie also expressed her prior concerns as to what the Queen would think about her racy novels, as she laughed: “I was wondering what she was going to say to me because most women say ‘oh you taught me everything I know about sex, I used to read my mum’s copy under the covers in bed’ – but I don’t think she would say that to me.”

Jackie has written 29 novels throughout her career, including ‘The World Is Full of Married Men’ – which was banned in Australia and South Africa after it was published in 1968 – and ‘The Stud’.