Whilst people all across the country will be celebrating this year’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations, one member of staff will be getting a little closer than most.
Lauren Bray, Special Events Assistant on HMS Warrior 1860 at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, is a member of Portsmouth Military Wives Choir and has been fortunate enough to be chosen to participate in the Diamond Jubilee Concert taking place outside Buckingham Palace on Monday 4th June.
Representatives from 10 Military Wives Choirs across the country were invited to Abbey Road Studios to record the official Diamond Jubilee single “Sing”, written by Gary Barlow and Andrew Lloyd-Webber.
Along with 11 other choir members from Portsmouth, Lauren will be travelling to London this weekend in preparation for Monday night’s concert.
“I am so honoured to have been chosen to take part, although it is of course a little daunting” said Lauren, whose husband Andrew is a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy. “When I heard about the Portsmouth Military Wives Choir, I thought that this couldn’t be a better opportunity – I could have fun, whilst meeting people who know exactly what it is like to have a partner in the military. I never imagined 6 months later that I would have had the opportunity to feature on a Number 1 selling album and record with Gary Barlow and Gareth Malone, let alone perform for Her Majesty The Queen at such an amazing celebration.”
20,000 tickets for the concert have been sold, and a further 1 million people are expected to line The Mall. The concert will also be shown live on giant screens in parks around the Capital, and televised internationally.
The choir itself has performed at The New Theatre Royal, HMS Collingwood and HMS Sultan, and has a busy summer ahead of them.
The Jubilee Concert will be shown live on BBC1 at 7.30pm on Monday 4th June.
The Portsmouth Military Wives Choir rehearses on Tuesday evenings at HMS Collingwood. If you would be interested in joining, please contact Sammy Davies (Membership Secretary) at mwcportsmouth@hotmail.com.
