Sunday 5 June 2022 10:55 PM JAN MOIR: Palace pop party was glorious, victorious... but drones stole the show trends now
The Platinum Party at the Palace started off with a high tea of hilarity, when Paddington and the Queen shared marmalade sandwiches and a moment this country is never going to forget.
But how to top that? Somehow the party managed it, with Rod Stewart capering about in pearls, Prince Charles talking about his ‘Mummy’, Brian May playing guitar next to Queen Victoria’s statue and even lovely Jason Donovan dusting down his role as Joseph and wondering if any dream would do. Speaking of which, may I return, to the beginning?
For over two hours the Platinum Party was the best of us, it was the worst of us, it was glorious and victorious – but also just a bit spurious. Who doesn’t love Diana Ross, but what was the Motown legend doing at the top of a bill celebrating HM the Queen and the best of British?
The drone show was a highlight, a joy from start to finish. It featured giant corgis, a confetti of red hearts fluttering from a royal handbag, a cruet set of guardsmen in their bearskins and a teapot pouring tea; the absurd but beloved pageantry of royal life, picked out in fairy lights across a velvet summer sky
According to the show’s presenter Lee Mack, Miss Ross is ‘a particular favourite of the royals’. News to most of us! Including, one suspects, the Windsors.
Undaunted, Diana climbed aboard in a monochrome teapot of tulle and glided along the stage in front of Buckingham Palace like a fabulous Dalek, one whose diamonds were visible in the farthest reaches of the Who-niverse. ‘I am filled with admiration for you, Your Majesty,’ she trilled, one queen to another.
Another surprise act was Alicia Keys, who deftly managed her own lack of connections and royal acquaintance. ‘When I am in London it reminds me so much of New York,’ she said, before launching into her big hit Empire State of Mind. Sadly this does not celebrate the pink bits of the map nor the Queen’s realm but
