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Opera legend Lesley Garrett has 17 solo albums under her belt, along with eight DVD specials and two books.

The former principal soprano at the English National Opera has wowed audiences in productions ranging from Don Giovanni to Jack the Ripper: The Women of Whitechapel.

As a mainstream artist she has stamped her mark in West End shows including The Sound Of Music and Carousel, as well as memorable turns before crowds at FA Cup finals.

The mother-of-two, now 71, lives in north London with her husband, Dr Peter Christian.

High notes: Opera star Lesley Garrett reveals all about her finances - including earning £10,000 from a champagne firm

What did your parents teach you about money?

Dad was inclined to spend a bit more than he earned, and Mum tended to get very stressed and worried about that. I think this led me to do neither of those things.

As such, I don’t like debt, and so I spend what I have rather than borrow.

Have you ever struggled to make ends meet?

No, I’ve always worked. After school I got a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music, which was quite unusual for someone from Doncaster.

My dad advised me to get a teaching certificate so I had something to fall back on. We don’t really do falling back in our family, so I never needed it.

I struggled at first at the Royal Academy. I felt like a fish out of water, being a northern working-class kid, but that was less of a financial issue as I was always able to cover the rent.

Have you ever been paid silly money?

I have. I used to do jingles for adverts. I was the Kenco coffee girl and the Ragu Pasta girl, but the best one I ever did was a cinema ad for Taittinger Champagne.

The ad agency asked if I could think of a single high note that ended the act of an opera, as they wanted to film me singing it. I said they needed the end of Sempre Libra, from Act 1 of La Traviata.

I did this one note 40 years ago, and was paid £10,000, plus royalties. They didn’t throw in a case of champagne, though!

What was the best year of your financial life?

Becoming principal soprano at the English National Opera in 1984 led to so many things.

I even met my husband on a blind date at ENO. In the same week I got my first record deal and television show, after being a pin-up in their poster campaign!

The most lucrative time of my life was the late 1990s and early 2000s, when I was given my own six-part TV series for BBC2.

I did three series spread over six years and got 3.8 million viewers nightly. I wanted to take people who were known for other types of singing and do opera with them.

Michael Ball sang Papageno’s duets from Mozart’s Magic Flute with me, for example, and it was fantastic entertainment.

It really changed the way people saw opera.

At the end of it all I was honoured with a CBE for services to music. The three series led to me making and touring my albums, which proved very profitable and was enormous fun.

The most expensive thing you have bought for fun?

I’d just finished a tour, and the day before Christmas I bought my husband a yellow Smart car straight off the forecourt for £9,000 cash.

I got them to deliver it to the next street along from us, and on Christmas Day I took him to it and said: ‘Open your eyes, there’s your present.’

He was a GP then, now retired, and it became known as Dr Christian’s flying lemon. Everyone knew where he was – he could never have an affair!

What has been your best money decision?

Marrying Peter. He’s fascinated by the economy and how you can make money work for you – and I am not.

So it was lucky for me that I married him. He’s the careful one, who’s done all the investing.

What has been your biggest money mistake?

I can’t think of one. I mean, there are daft things, like a gym membership that I kept for years and never went to, but I don’t think that quite cuts it.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t rule out making terrible money mistakes in the future – I anticipate becoming much more financially uninhibited as I get older!

Do you own any property?

Yes, I’ve always bought property. For me, it’s an emotional investment as well as a financial one and a good way to spread our exposure to risk.

Home is a six-bed Edwardian house in north London, but the best place I’ve ever bought has been our beautiful little farmhouse in south-west France, where we have the most special times with family and friends.

We’ve also got two cottages in Yorkshire, one of which I rent out. We’re there every month.

Will you pass down your money or spend it all?

I think it’s going to be a bit of both. The main thing for me is not to be a burden to anyone – I want to make sure I have enough money at my disposal to employ people to take care of me, if it comes to that.

I’m married to a doctor, so I’m very aware that you don’t know what life can throw at you.

Do you have a pension?

Yes, I’ve got three pensions, but I haven’t cashed any in yet. They’re sitting there waiting for me, because I’m still performing, and I won’t touch them until I finally hang up my tonsils.

If you were Chancellor, what would you do?

I would increase the arts budget massively. I think successive governments haven’t understood the power of the arts to inspire the public.

We have a worldwide reputation for arts and culture, and it’s been eroded through a lack of support at the highest level. Ticket prices are through the roof, and that can only deter the average theatregoer around the country from attending performances.

What is your number one financial priority?

To be fiercely independent and unbeholden to anyone.

I’ve felt like this since I was 14, when I got my first jobs – working on market stalls, planting lettuces, sorting and grading tomatoes and washing up in local RAF stations.

Oh, the glamour of it all!

Lesley Garrett will be singing at the 250th anniversary running of the St. Leger at Doncaster Races on September 12.