The late Queen and Prince Philip loved to sing (Is This The Way To) Amarillo, Tony Christie has revealed.
The 81-year-old said he had been told it was his favourite song at royal events.
The singer said he was stunned when the monarch said she knew all the lyrics to the song, which was released in the UK in 1971.
When Christie re-recorded the song with comedian Peter Kay for Comic Relief in 2005, it went straight to Number 1.
Christie said: “I had lunch at the Palace, where I met the Queen and Prince Philip. It was an honour. I am an absolute monarchist.”
Tony Christie, pictured singing at the Goldene Sonne awards in Germany in 2021. The 81-year-old singer described himself as an “absolute monarchist”
The Queen (right) told the British singer that she and Prince Philip (left) knew all the lyrics to his hit (Is This The Way To) Amarillo.
Christie (left) re-recorded the song with comedian Peter Kay (right) for Comic Relief in 2005. It went straight to Number 1.
Asked if she knew the lyrics to the song, she said: “They shook my hand and everyone knew (the lyrics). She does. Everyone knows (the lyrics).”
They said it was the song they play at parties. They said, ‘Sing the song we play at parties!’
Christie said the royal couple had told him as much at a luncheon for The Grand Order of the Water Rats, a British entertainment industry fraternity and charity, a few years before the Queen’s death in 2022. He and Philip were both members.
After performing the hit at the Boisdale Xerjoff Music Awards on Wednesday, Christie, who is in the early stages of dementia, said: “I won’t be releasing it again, it’s a classic song.”
‘I’ve been very lucky to have received great songs all my life, so I feel blessed.’