Social media users have reacted with delight to the Queen’s appearance with Paddington Bear, who opened tonight’s Party at the Palace performances for her platinum anniversary celebrations.
Tens of thousands of people flocked to Buckingham Palace on Saturday to celebrate Queen Elizabeth’s platinum jubilee and to see a pop concert which began with the 96-year-old monarch having tea with Paddington Bear.
In a short video, the Queen revealed that she kept the bear’s favorite – a jam sandwich – in her ubiquitous handbag. She then began tapping along to the tune of the Queen Rock anthem “We Will Rock You,” which opened the show.
And social media has gone mad over the short clip that compared her skit to Daniel Craig as James Bond for the London 2012 Olympics opening ceremony, where she “jumped” from a helicopter to begin the rest of the performance.
Simon J. Goddard tweeted about the skit: “The Queen is playing her socks off with Paddington Bear: perfect comic timing.
“I heard she was once nicknamed ‘One Take Windsor.’ A great start to the party at the Palace and the ‘other Queen’ storms it!’
Social media users have reacted with delight to the Queen’s appearance with Paddington Bear, which opened tonight’s Party at the Palace performances to mark her platinum anniversary celebrations
One person wrote: “I haven’t even remotely delved into the whole anniversary thing but I can’t deny that that little Paddington Bear segment with the Queen was so lovely and sweet.
‘Then straight to Adam Lambert and Queen. It’s nice to see so many people coming together, more of this please.
Another person said: “The Queen and Paddington Bear were absolutely brilliant and were only dwarfed by her tapping along on her fine china teacup for the Queen.”
Michelle O said: “I’m watching the Queen’s Jubilee concert. The sketch she did with Paddington Bear pulling a jam sandwich out of her purse. Priceless.
“Plus taps her teaspoon on her cup, the intro to ‘We Will Rock You’, I fucking love our Queen.”
Julie Marriot added: “Omg I’m absolutely blown away by our Queen’s attendance with Paddington Bear and jam sandwiches in her bag and tapping her teaspoon to the We Will Rock You intro! Great. It’s going to be a fantastic evening for everyone.”
User @st_ua_rt wrote: “The Queen performs We Will Rock You on the spoons with Paddington Bear. Cancel the rest of the concert. Tonight has already reached its climax.’
And social media has gone mad over the short clip that compared her skit to Daniel Craig as James Bond for the London 2012 Olympics opening ceremony, where she “jumped” from a helicopter to start the rest of the performance
Em Boulton made a very good point about proposing this sketch with Her Majesty.
She said on Twitter: “Everybody’s talking about The Queen and Paddington Bear, but give a thought to the person who had to make the request: ‘Would you have tea with a CGI bear, pull a sandwich out of your purse and then We to play? Will she rock on a teacup?’
And on the Queen’s handbag, Kayla Adams commented: “We’ve always wondered what the Queen carries in her handbag, now we know thanks to Paddington Bear.”
Another person said: “I don’t want to alarm everyone outside the UK but we just saw the Queen the ACTUAL Queen perform, we’re going to rock you with Paddington Bear at Buckingham Palace… we’re having a wild weekend. ‘
Tens of thousands of people flocked to Buckingham Palace on Saturday to celebrate Queen Elizabeth’s platinum jubilee and to see a pop concert which began with the 96-year-old monarch having tea with Paddington Bear
Simon J. Goddard tweeted about the skit: “The Queen is playing her socks off with Paddington Bear: perfect comic timing. “I heard she was once nicknamed ‘One Take Windsor.’ A great start to the party at the Palace and the ‘other Queen’ storms it!’
A host of performers will take the stage, including Alicia Keys, Diana Ross and Rod Stewart, before the Queen’s son and heir, Prince Charles, and her grandson, Prince William, pay tribute to the record-breaking monarch after her 70 years on the throne .
By early evening, tens of thousands of people had gathered on The Mall, the grand boulevard leading up to the Palace, and in a nearby park to watch the concert on big screens, while those with tickets crowded the stage on a warm evening.
The opening video between the Queen and the fictional character from children’s literature echoed 2012 when she appeared with Britain’s most famous fictional spy James Bond in a video for the opening ceremony of the London Olympics.
The monarch was absent from Saturday’s concert due to “episodic mobility issues” which have led to her canceling a number of recent engagements.
Andrew Singleton, a 56-year-old window fitter from northern England who was queuing for the concert, said the anniversary had helped bring the country together.
“People have even traveled from America to come here and just enjoy the celebrations,” he said.
Earlier in the day, the Queen also missed the Epsom Derby horse race.
Her daughter Princess Anne, who competed in the three-day horse show at the 1976 Olympics, represented her mother, who rarely missed the race during her record-breaking reign, watching on TV from her home in Windsor Castle.