Following Brian’s touring years with Roger Whittaker he was appointed as Composer in Residence at the Royal Naval School in Haslemere, later to be re-named The Royal School. This involved writing music for royalty visits to the school by Queen Elizabeth and the Princess Royal.
As the Golden Jubilee Year for the Queen approached in 2002 Brian submitted his setting of the National Anthem words to completely new original music not expecting a positive reply for such a radical move. He was pleasantly surprised when it was chosen for inclusion in the Service of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall in November 2002.
However, permission from the Queen had to be obtained and in the summer of 2002 the Queen was on a Royal Visit to the more northern parts of Canada where she had become marooned on a broken-down river boat and was impossible to contact. It was a nail-biting wait for a response but thankfully permission was eventually obtained.
The words of the National Anthem were sung by the Royal School choir at the Royal Albert Hall accompanied by the massed military bands together with the Queen’s fanfare, and broadcast worldwide. The response of the Royal Family and Prime Minister was clear – they definitely approved!
