The King and Queen were serenaded by the Military Wives Choir performing a song composed to mark Charles’ recent 76th birthday.
The women from across the country sang the birthday tribute, November Sunday, accompanied by the Band of the Household Cavalry and, for an encore, were joined by the royal household choir for a rendition of We Wish You a Merry Christmas.
Charles chatted to the women after the performance and was given a presentation copy of the CD single of the song, complete with lyrics, the musical score and images of the performers.
He quipped “there’s quite a lot of you” and when he asked “you have a repertoire?” one of the choir said “yes, we have some core songs we all know” and the King replied “fantastic”.
Charles’s birthday song, written by John McLaren, re-imagines the “chilly, foggy London night” he was born at Buckingham Palace on November 14 1948, and the hope and joy of a recovering post-war Britain.
It also pays tribute to his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, who was herself a “military wife”, and served in the Armed Forces.
About 100 singers, including serving personnel, wives, partners and veterans from 41 Military Wives Choirs across the UK and overseas, gathered to record the track, which was released on November 1.
The Military Wives Choirs charity was launched following the BBC2 series with choral maestro Gareth Malone, and has grown into a network of 70 choirs worldwide.
Hilary Davan Wetton, the choir’s artistic director, conducted the performance in Buckingham Palace’s music room and spoke afterwards about the benefits of the choir.
He said: “The reality is, if you have a rather stressful existence, which is built into what being a military wife is, then it’s very important you have something to hold on to when the going gets rough.
“And the one thing they can hang on to is when they go to a new military base there’ll be another Military Wives Choir, and they’ll be singing at least half the same songs they sang before.
“So, immediately, they slot in to the repertoire, to the atmosphere, to the kind of traditions of the military wives choir and its enormously reassuring when you go to a strange place.”
