Paul & Linda McCartney join “An Evening for Conservation”

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Paul & Linda McCartney joined “An Evening for Conservation“, an event organized in the Royal Albert Hall, in presence of the Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philipp. Paul had previously met the Queen when The Beatles were appointed Members of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1965.

[The second time] we met [with Queen Elizabeth II] was some years later at the Royal Albert Hall on 13th December 1982.  It was at an event Linda and I attended called “An Evening for Conservation”. Part of the evening included some orchestral re-workings of some Beatles songs and I remember chatting with Her Majesty about them. She also re-introduced me to Prince Philip who said he remembered our previous meeting in the sixties! 

Paul McCartney – From paulmccartney.com, September 8, 2022

From Club Sandwich N°29, 1983:

Joan Collins and David Bellamy hosted the occasion, which was also a tribute to the music of the Beatles, performed by the joint forces of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Louis Clark, famed for “Hooked on Classics”, and the Royal Choral Society. Guest soloists were flautist Elena Duran and actress and singer Honor Heffernan. The event was organised by The Solid Gold Foundation in association with Capital Radio, and the proceeds from the evening, expected to be about £30,000, will be donated to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

Paul and Linda’s party comprised George and Judy Martin, Stephen and Carolyn Shrimpton, and Trevor Jones and John Hammel of MPL. They had a special box located directly below the Royal box, which caused a spot of bother for John Hammel, who went to the wrong box, until a security man advised him of his mistake! Champagne, freely consumed by all, set the evening off to a jolly start.

The first half of the concert featured a medley of Beatles songs which were arranged by Louis Clark. In the interval, Paul and Linda were ushered to a room behind the Royal box to meet the Queen and Prince Philip.

The Queen, who appeared to be thoroughly enjoying the evening, chatted with Paul about the orchestral treatment of Beatles music and then, turning to Linda, mentioned that she enjoyed receiving her diary every year and hoped that Linda got an acknowledgement.

While the Queen stood talking with them, nursing a glass of soda water Linda couldn’t help observing that her left diamond earring had turned around the wrong way, which somehow lent a very human touch to her presence. Then the Queen called Prince Philip over who remembered previous occasion when he had met Paul. “Yeah,” said Paul, “it was the Carl-Alan Award to the Beatles for the year 1963.” Prince Philip then asked Paul about the classical arrangements of his music, but Paul said: “It’s really not my bag. I concentrate on the three minute pop song and let others do classical version, rather like taking pictures of birds instead of painting them.”

“Or shooting them,” slipped in Linda, as the vision of Tower Of London flashed through Paul’s mind! Prince Philip replied that he did already, to which Linda retorted: “Yes, but you shouldn’t,” while the executioner’s bell sounded louder in Paul’s head.

There then followed a discussion about hunting and conservation. The imbalance in their attitudes to these things is the only little bone Paul and Linda have to pick the Royal Family, who they otherwsise enormously admire. They were glad to have aired the subject, about which they both feel strongly, as they fully support conservation and are very much against hunting. Prince Philip then asked Linda if she was vegetarian. She replied that they both were, and Paul piped in to ask: “Are any of your family vegetarians?” Prince Philip responded that his sister was and that Prince Charles wouldn’t take too much pushing to become one. Suddenly Linda noticed that the Queen was standing by herself and struck up a conversation about horses. Linda was pleased to hear that the Queen had an Appaloosa, which is Linda’s favourite breed.

After bidding farewell, Paul and Linda returned to their box for the second half of the programme. Before it started, Joan Collins introduced Paul and Linda who waved from their box to the audience. At the end of the performance, after the final encore, the hall simply erupted with chants of “We want Paul!” which Paul found rather overwhelming coming from a formally dressed crowd of largely middle-aged people! He responded by standing up blowing kisses and waving, and the orchestra took the cue to have yet another final encore.

The finishing touch occurred when the lights came up, and people were quietly leaving the hall. One voice rang out clearly through the hall: “Three cheers for Paul McCartney! ” That moment crystallised for Paul the emotions of the entire evening. Although he’s received many awards, he carried away special feeling about the evening—incredible pride and, most of all, honour. Afterwards the party went to a restaurant for a meal before staggering home.

Last updated on September 17, 2022