A superb show

I didn't see the much-criticised BBC coverage of the Jubilee Thames Flotilla on Sunday but however misconceived it may have been I cannot believe it warranted the attack by Bel Mooney (formerly Bel Dimbleby) in the Daily Mail yesterday that it failed “because the BBC holds those who love the royals in contempt”. Wherever did she get that idea from? It sounds as if it belongs to a different agenda.

But I did watch most of Monday night's four-hour BBC Jubilee Concert held outside Buckingham Palace and stretching up the Mall to Trafalgar Square. I thought it was superb, both in conception and performance, and the audience of ten thousand seemed to share that view. How far the concert reflected Queen Elizabeth's, or perhaps her grandsons', show business preferences, I don't know, but there was enough for all ages and tastes. At times I thought it was developing into a competition between Lang Lang, Elton John and Stevie Wonder to be the first to shatter his keyboard, but the compensations included Robbie Williams' Mack The Knife, Shirley Bassey's Diamonds Are For Ever, and Renee Fleming and Alfie Boe's Somewhere from West Side Story.

The finale with the National Anthem, Land of Hope and Glory and I Vow to Thee, My Country from Holst's The Planets, followed by soaring fireworks was, in a word, uplifting.