Body Shop founder Dame Anita Roddick told the Queen her secret of success.
"I said I keep busy - because it's better to wear out than rust out," said Dame Anita at Buckingham Palace.
She had just received her honour, awarded in the Queen's Birthday Honours list, as a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to retailing, the environment and charity.
The 61-year-old human rights campaigner, who founded the Body Shop in her home town of Littlehampton, made her fortune marketing environmentally-friendly cosmetics.
"The honour is not just for me, it's for everybody at Body Shop," she said. "It's nice to be recognised for doing something beyond accumulating wealth.
"When I was told about the award, I was at a jail in Louisiana, in the States, trying to get two men released from solitary confinement.
"I thought this is so appropriate - at least I'm not just swanning around."
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