70 YEARS ONE WILL
by Sarah Robertson and
Buckingham Palace and
BRIAN May opened last night’s starstudded concert at Buckingham Palace marking the Queen’s 70 years on the throne.
The rocker and his band Queen + Adam Lambert kicked off with a spectacular rendition of We Will Rock You.
Dressed in a gold sequin-embellished coat, Lambert took to the stage first with the crowd chanting along while Brian rose up playing in front of the Queen Victoria monument.
Brian said he hoped the band could pull off something epic for the BBC’S Platinum Party At The Palace concert.
The 74-year-old guitarist created a classic moment 20 years ago during the 2002 Golden Jubilee celebrations when he performed God Save The Queen on Buckingham Palace’s roof.
Speaking backstage last night, May said: “We’re exceedingly honoured and exceedingly happy to be here, it means a lot to us.
Memorable
at
“We were here 20 years ago for the Golden Jubilee and it’s great to be asked back.
“And we like to bring something special every time, so we’ll see if we can pull off something epic tonight.
“It’s all about the Queen and how amazing she’s been and how we want her to carry on.”
He added that he does feel a little bit of pressure but noted that the band enjoys the challenge of creating events which will be memorable.
After We Will Rock You, they launched into Don’t Stop Me Now then We Are The Champions.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their children could be seen enjoying the performance while holding Union Jack flags.
Before taking to the stage Brian’s bandmate Roger Taylor said: “This is the jubilation after the misery we’ve all been through.”
The concert – broadcast live on BBC One and watched on TV by Her Majesty – took place in front of the palace, with a crowd of about 22,000 plus millions watching on TV.
The show opened with a secretly-recorded comedy sketch featuring the Queen with a digitally-animated version of cartoon character Paddington Bear appearing to have tea together in the palace.
The monarch and the famous bear tapped out the beat of We Will Rock You together on china teacups using silver spoons.
Comic Host Lee Mack took to the stage and made a dig at the Government saying: “We are here for the party of a life time. Finally we can say party and gates and it’s a positive.” The line-up also included Eurovision runner-up Sam Ryder.
Honour
Stars including broadcaster Sir David Attenborough, tennis player Emma Raducanu, football legend David Beckham and comedian and writer Stephen Fry were there.
Jason Donovan sang Any Dream Will do from Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat.
Diversity took to the stage with Ashley Banjo delivering a spoken word performance praising
the Queen while covering great moments in British music over the decades from The Beatles and Bowie to the Spice Girls and One Direction before coming up to the current day with Stormzy.
And there was a specially-recorded performance from Sir Elton John as well as a closing performance from Diana Ross.
Strictly star Shirley Ballas said the Queen is “a constant in all of our lives” while the show’s most recent winner Rose Ayling Ellis, who is deaf, revealed Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall used sign language when they visited the Eastenders set last month.
Rose, said: “They signed ‘good morning’ to me. Apparently Camilla is a big fan of Strictly and she voted for me every week. That’s incredible.”
Other royals in attendance included the Duchess of Cornwall, Duchess of Cambridge, Princess Beatrice and Eugenie, Earl and Countess of Wessex, Prince Michael and Princess Michael of Kent as well as Zara and Mike Tindall.
Serving
Prince Harry and Meghan were noticeably absent. Messages flooded in from stars including Dolly Parton, Michael Buble and Geri Horner.
The Spice Girl said: “Our queen, kind, loving, strong. Serving the country, the commonwealth. Uniting us all together. Always putting others before yourself. You are truly inspirational.”
Dolly added: “Thank you for being wonderful, you are more than pearls and you are more than platinum. I will always love you.”
Daniel Craig appeared to get emotional as he thanked the Queen in a video message.
Paul Mccartney followed saying: “I love you like many other people.” Michelle Obama added: “I feel deeply honoured to have spent time with you over the years. Thank you ma’am, for your remarkable example.”
Band is exceedingly honoured to be
playing here