UNITED KINGDOM: TOP POP STARS SIGNED-UP FOR QUEEN ELIZABETH'S GOLDEN JUBILEE PARTY CONCERT AT BUCKINGHAM PALACE

Record ID: 393281

  • Title: UNITED KINGDOM: TOP POP STARS SIGNED-UP FOR QUEEN ELIZABETH'S GOLDEN JUBILEE PARTY CONCERT AT BUCKINGHAM PALACE
  • Date: 26th February 2002
  • Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (FEBRUARY 26, 2002) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) SIR GEORGE MARTIN SAYING: Well I was asked by the Palace if I would help get this concert off the ground and so my job has been to invite artists to take part - they're doing it for nothing and also to ask people from abroad too. I've asked some very important American people to help me. P
  • Embargoed: 13th March 2002 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Topics: Entertainment,General,Royalty
  • Reuters ID: LVA8OB0LXLWQAPCEAVVYDCKIQSIM
  • Story Text: Her Majesty requests the pleasure of your company for an evening of popular music -- Buckingham Palace has signed up top pop stars for Queen Elizabeth's Golden Jubilee party.
    Britain's "pop royalty" -- From Paul McCartney to Elton John -- are to rock the night away in June on the verdant palace lawns which normally play host to genteel garden parties.
    Queen Elizabeth, ever mindful of Britain's changing ways, has adopted a firmly populist stance for the June 3 concert when she is to throw open the palace gardens to 12,000 lucky free ticket-holders picked in a nationwide ballot.
    They will be given a champagne picnic before the aristocrats of rock take to the stage -- Eric Clapton, Tom Jones, Aretha Franklin and Beach Boys founder Brian Wilson will be serenading the House of Windsor in a concert - Party at the Palace - beamed worldwide by the BBC.
    Details of the concert were announced on Tuesday amid the gilded splendours of Buckingham Palace's state dining room where Queen Victoria once memorably sang to the composer Mendelssohn.
    "It's a party as well as a concert," said Sir George Martin, the legendary "Fifth Beatle" who once produced the world's most famous pop group and now will be creative guide to the show.
    "The artists represent the greatest composers and performers of their generation," Martin told reporters, who were served champagne by liveried butlers.
    After a slickly produced video intermingling rock and royalty images from the Swinging Sixties to 21st Century dance music, Sir Michael Peat, Keeper of the Privy Purse, faced a barrage of questions about the concert.
    Would the teenage Princes William and Harry be attending? "They are very much looking forward to the event," he said.
    Could soft drugs be a problem among the crowd at the pop concert? "I don't think we have particular concerns in that area," he replied.
    The Queen's grandson, Prince Harry, recently hit the headlines after it was disclosed that he had smoked pot and indulged in under-age drinking bouts.
    Lovers of classical music -- heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles is a particularly fervent fan -- were not forgotten.
    The Palace is also to be thrown open on June 1 to another 12,000 fans for a classical concert - Prom at The Palace - to be conducted by Sir Andrew Davis and is set to star New Zealand soprano Kiri Te Kanawa, Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich and opera's latest superstar duet -- Roberto Alagna and Angela Gheorghiu.
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