Handel with care: Cabinet gift is music to the Queen’s ears
THE Queen has received an astonishing array of gifts during her 70-year reign, from a wine cooler shaped like a grasshopper to a crocodile, a totem pole and a pair of cowboy boots.
To that list she can now add a small hand-painted music box adorned with the faces of all 14 of her Prime Ministers that, when opened, plays Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus.
The gift was given to Her Majesty by the Cabinet to mark her Platinum Jubilee. It was the idea of Michael Ellis, the Paymaster General, and each Cabinet minister was asked to chip in around £200 to pay for it.