The Queen’s favourite sporting event - Royal Ascot - is considering axing Rule, Britannia! and Land of Hope and Glory from its world famous bandstand celebrations next year.
For more than 40 years the tradition of singing around the bandstand sees hundreds of racegoers form a joyous choir to celebrate the end of each day at Royal Ascot.
The custom was formed by the late Lady Jinny Beaumont, the wife of Sir Nicky Beaumont, Clerk of the Course from 1969 to 1994, with punters singing a collection of popular numbers including Hey Jude, Sweet Caroline and Tom Jones’ smash hit Delilah.
The performance, belted out by singer John Park for the last 12 years, ends in rousing renditions of English favourite Jerusalem, Rule, Britannia!, Land of Hope and Glory and a spirited finale of God Save the Queen.
The 6pm event on each day of the five-day Berkshire festival has become synonymous with Royal Ascot.
Her Majesty attends each day with huge sums being placed on the colour of hat as more than 300,000 racegoers pack into the course over the festival.
This year’s meeting was cancelled due to the coronavirus crisis with the Queen tuning in from isolation at Windsor Castle.
Now festival organisers have confirmed they will potentially scrap the controversial songs from the bandstand setlist, in light of the furore over their inclusion in the upcoming Last Night of the Proms Festival in light of the Black Lives Matter Movement.
Campaigners have argued the songs should be fazed out of their perceived association with colonialism and slavery after the BBC announced it would play an instrumental version at the Last Night Of The Proms next month.
There will be no live audience to sing along and wave flags at the September 12 concert because of coronavirus restrictions.
One well placed racing insider said: “Much like the move to remove Rule Britannia! and Land of Hope and Glory from the Royal Albert Hall festival, there is a rising level of unease among the organisers who are certainly fearing a backlash because of those particular songs’ perceived association with colonialism and slavery.
“Despite all the traditions of the past, the feeling at the moment is that it would be most unwelcome attention for the festival, the Queen and the rest of the royal family and a decision to remove the singalong is expected to be ratified.”
A spokesperson for Royal Ascot said on Wednesday: “The pieces selected for the meeting are a mixture of traditional and more modern songs.
“As in previous years, these will be reviewed in the run up to Royal Ascot.”
One option on the table is to ban Mr Park from singing the two songs but to allow the band to play the music.
Our source said: “Most people don’t know the words anyway so it was muted that there would potentially be no singing, although they are particularly rousing numbers which does add to occasion.”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson yesterday (WEDS) again waded into the controversial row, amid heated debate over the songs’ historical meanings.
During a visit to Castle Rock School in Coalville, Leicestershire, he insisted it is politically acceptable to sing Rule Britannia!
Meanwhile, Andrew Lloyd Webber has suggested his collaborator Sir Tim Rice could “fix the offending couplet” in Rule, Britannia! as the row over the Last Night Of The Proms rumbled on.
New, orchestral versions of Rule, Britannia! and Land Of Hope And Glory will be performed on the final night of the Proms this year, but Lord Lloyd-Webber said the anthem will sound “ordinary at best” without lyrics.
The outgoing director-general of the BBC, Lord Tony Hall, has said the decision to remove the lyrics was a “creative” one, but confirmed that the issue of dropping songs because of their association with Britain’s imperial history had been discussed.
However, the BBC has confirmed the traditional anthems will be sung at next year’s event set to return to the Royal Albert Hall.
Buckingham Palace declines to comment.
