Cilla was very much still in the public eye here in the uk, her career of singing and presenting programmes spand 50 years, she was definitely a uk icon, came across as a very lovely genuine lady, who never forgot where she came from. Its only recently she started to 'retire' from show biz which I believe was more to do with her hearing loss rather than her age. Recently there was a tv drama programme made about her early years which if you ever get the chance to see is well worth it, it was called 'Cilla'.