Miriam Allan stood out as the only female in a four-person choir that sang at Prince Philip's scaled-back funeral at the weekend, but that was no surprise to her father who was watching proudly from home in Newcastle.
Chris Allan said he knew his daughter had incredible talent from when she was a "musically precocious" six-year-old.
Mr Allan said his daughter had been performing Jubilate Deo, Benjamin Britten's sacred choral composition sung by Ms Allan and the choir at St George's Chapel in Windsor, since she was a child growing up in New South Wales.
But before she became a soprano of international renown, Mr Allan said she would perform it at Newcastle's Christ Church Cathedral.
"The Britten that they sang during the service, she's been singing since she was a little kid," Mr Allan said.
'Musically precocious'
Mr Allan said his daughter had used him as a "sounding board" since her move to the UK in 2003 and he had watched as her career blossomed while she toured the world with leading orchestras and choirs.
He has fond memories of accompanying his daughter on piano, as a composer, and singing.
"I played for her and gave her music to sing and so forth when she was younger," he said.
He said the pair had performed on some of the same programs since she was a teenager.
Their most recent joint performance was in August 2019 for the Newcastle Music Festival — at the cathedral where it all began.
Ms Allan is married to Richard Bannan, a lay clerk [choral singer] of St George's Chapel.
She is a singing coach at a preparatory school in Westminster and also teaches singing at a boarding school in Oxfordshire.
Mr Allan said he was thrilled to be watching his daughter perform at the chapel as the Queen's husband of more than 70 years was laid to rest during a sombre and moving service.
He said she had performed for the Duke of Edinburgh himself on several occasions.
"She used to sing years ago in the Royal Guards Chapel and Prince Philip would often come to that, so she had sung for him a number of times," Mr Allan said.
Sworn to secrecy
Mr Allan said he only found out his daughter would be singing in front of Queen Elizabeth and other members of the royal family when she called him on Friday afternoon.
He said he was expecting it to be her husband who would sing.
"She said, 'Someone in the family is going to sing and it's not Rich','" he said.
"Incredibly surprised, incredibly thrilled, it was a great opportunity for her.
"We were over the moon."
Mr Allan watched the performance with his wife, Georgi Laney, in their Newcastle home.
"To have that ability and to be able to keep your composure under that stressful condition when you know lots of people are watching is pretty good," he said.
