Laura is moved by King anthem debut

LAURA WRIGHT was the first to sing the National Anthem at a sporting event after the Queen’s death, before the England v South Africa Test match at the Oval on Saturday.

‘I could feel the crowd hold their breath before I started singing,’ the mezzo-soprano tells me. ‘I only needed to sing four or five words differently, but the significance of those changes shook everyone.’

Wright, 32, who also performed for Her Majesty, adds: ‘Before the match began, I repeated [the words] over and over in my mind. I had to focus purely on the music so that the emotion of the moment didn’t affect my performance.’