As if the best seat at a concert of pop royalty was not enough, the Queen met the stars in person when she mingled backstage with the likes of Stevie Wonder, Sir Tom Jones and Sir Elton John after last night’s Diamond Jubilee performance.
Looking fresh and happy despite the Jubilee weekend’s exacting schedule, the Queen even managed not to bat an eyelid when introduced to Grace Jones, who had replaced her scarlet headdress with a spangly bowler hat and donned a sleek black tail coat over the red and black PVC leotard worn for her turn.
“You’ve changed!” said the Queen, looking down at Jones’s long legs as the singer briefly flashed her knickers at the 86-year-old monarch. “I had to,” said Jones, who had just spun a hula hoop around her hips for the entire four minutes of her song, Slave to the Rhythm. “It would have been a bit much. I’ve brought my legs. I was getting a bit cold.”
The Queen personally thanked Stevie Wonder for singing at the event, and was tipped off by Sir Elton John that Gary Barlow, the Take That frontman who organised the line-up, was a “good boy, he’ll go far”.
It was also a chance for some of the performers to meet their own heroes. The African Children’s Choir sang for Stevie Wonder, who rewarded several with a bear hug. “It’s the kids getting hugs – but I want a hug too!” said Lenny Henry, the comedian turned Shakespearean actor.
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He dived in for a manly cuddle with the veteran soul star but stopped abruptly as he then held out his arms to the notoriously feisty Grace Jones. “Actually, maybe not.”