On March 1, 2005, a reception was held at Buckingham Palace, the official London residence of Britain's reigning monarch, to recognise the excellence of British music and the contribution it makes to the culture and economy of the United Kingdom.
Among those invited to the event were four of the most famous guitarists England has ever produced, Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, Brian May and Jeff Beck, true rock royalty. But as the four musical legends were introduced to Queen Elizabeth II, it very quickly became apparent that she had absolutely no idea who any of the four men were, adding to the rather charming awkwardness of the occasion.
The first of the quartet to meet the Queen was Queen guitarist Brian May, the only one of the four to have actually performed at Buckingham Palace. Three years earlier, May had performed the Britain's National Anthem God Save The Queen on the palace roof as part of Elizabeth II’s Golden Jubilee celebrations, a day he later remembered as "a milestone in my life."
"They said originally, would you come and play a version of God Save The Queen, strolling through the state rooms of Buckingham Palace and in the style of Jimi Hendrix?" May recalled in a 2022 episode of the Queen The Greatest YouTube series. "Now there's a few things in that I didn't feel comfortable about. I mean, trying to be Jimi Hendrix is one of them.
Article continues below“And then I had this thought... where I need to be is not strolling through Buckingham Palace rooms, but up the top. I need to be on the roof. I need to be the lone piper who’s been up there for the last 50 years in wind and rain. Grizzled old campaigner still playing. So I rang them up and suggested it and they went, 'Yeah, OK'... I remember thinking, if this works and I pull this off, I will never, ever be scared again."
But if May thought that a performance he remembered as "electrifying", would have made him a familiar face to the Queen, he was mistaken.
"You're not supposed to speak first, but I thought, This is embarrassing," the guitarist recalled in 2024. "So, I went, I’m very pleased to meet you, knowing that I shouldn't say that. And I said, I'm the person who made all that noise on your roof. She said, 'Oh, it was you!' It was quite amusing. I think she was a very lovely woman."
Next in line for a royal handshake was Led Zeppelin icon Jimmy Page.
"Are you a guitarist too?" the Queen enquired.
"I'm a guitarist as well," Page confirms, before another awkward silence.
"Jimmy is a hero of mine," Brian May chips in, in an effort to help the conversation along, adding that Led Zeppelin were "the model" for his own band.
"Oh, that's nice," replies Queenie, clearly not giving a fuck.
When introduced to Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck, she asks if they've been playing a long time.
"About... god... 40 years," Clapton replies, adding that the four are all getting "long in the tooth."
"We all moved through the same band," he continues, gesturing to Page, Beck and himself, all former Yardbirds members.
"They went on to bigger things," Beck jokes.
Queen Elizabeth, clearly bored now, moves on.
"It's great to meet her," Eric Clapton later told Associated Press, "and it doesn’t matter at all that she did not know who were are or what we do... I wouldn't expect her to."
Watch the historic encounter below.
Other guests at the reception included The Who's Roger Daltrey, Charlotte 'Voice of an Angel', Church, Shirley Bassey, ex-Spice Girl Geri Halliwell, and Phil Collins.
"The Queen has heard my music but I don’t know if she’s a fan,"Collins said afterwards.
No offence Phil, but we seriously doubt it.
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