The Queen’s platinum jubilee concert, titled Platinum Party at the Palace, was kickstarted in heartwarming fashion.
As musicians, including Alicia Keys and Georga Ezra, prepared to perform at the BBC event, a pre-recorded segment was shown to viewers in which the Queen herself acted opposite Paddington Bear, voiced by Ben Whishaw.
In a similar vein to the segment she filmed alongside Daniel Craig’s James Bond for the London Olympics opening ceremony in 2012, this new clip saw the Queen showcase her acting skills opposite the CGI character.
The clip, which also included actor Simon Farnaby in character as Barry the Security Guard, saw Paddington have a lunch of marmalade sandwiches with Her Majesty in Buckingham Palace.
It ended with him wishing the Queen a “happy jubilee” and thanking her “for everything”.
“Ok Her Maj and Paddington was surprisingly wonderful and I will not hear otherwise,” one viewer wrote, with asnother calling it “the cutest thing ever”.
“London 2012 may of had a James Bond skit with the Queen but THIS PADDINGTON ONE BEATS IT A MILE OFF,” one viewer concluded.
Elsewhere during the ceremony, comedian Lee Mack ad-libbed a joke about the Partygate scandal – in front of Boris Johnson himself – while Stephen Fry made a comment about prime ministers that drew gasps from the crowd.
Later in the ceremony, viewers noticed that George Ezra censored his own song lyric about death during a performance of one of his hit songs.
Catch up on all the live updates from the event as they happened here.
