Dame Nellie Melba

It's a classic pudding, created by the great French chef Escoffier to honour the great Australian opera singer Dame Nellie Melba.

1926: Australian opera singer Dame Nellie Melba (below), 65, gave her final stage performance at Covent Garden, singing Mimi in La Boheme.

1926: Australian opera singer Dame Nellie Melba, 65, gave her final stage performance at Covent Garden, singing Mimi in La Boheme.

Peach Melba is a classic peach-and-raspberry dessert named after Dame Nellie Melba, a famed opera singer from the late 19th and early 20th centuries (you may remember her as a character in a "Downton Abbey" episode).

When a waiter brought me one, Sir Ken said: "What a beautiful day for Dame Nellie Melba to drop a choc ice down her tights and say, 'How's that for a knickerbocker glory?'" Happy birthday Doddy!

Australia, of course, is home to John Farnham: pop music's answer to Dame Nellie Melba, who was known for an endless series of farewells stretching over the final decade of her life.

But Ryan (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-37370199) told BBC News  he thinks it's time the naturalist was further immortalized on Australian currency because "the newer generation barely knows who is representing our currency." Various versions of the $100 note (http://www.australianbanknotes.net/hundred_dollar_banknotes/index.htm) currently include  pictures of explorer Douglas Mawson, astronomer John Tebutt, singer Dame Nellie Melba and commander John Monash.

"On permanent display at The Savoy in London since May is a triptych of my drawings created in honour of Dame Nellie Melba for the patisserie 'Melba'.

Other titles in the series include: Dame Nellie Melba, Professor Fred Hollows, Mary MacKillop and Sir Edward 'Weary' Dunlop.

Mark Johnston had to settle for just the 216 winners in 2013, equalling his previous best, and Dame Nellie Melba can ensure the yard hits the ground running early this year at Southwell.

Downton Abbey featured a cameo from Dame Nellie Melba, the legendary opera soprano.