On the passing of our Patron, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
We join the nation in mourning the loss of Her Majesty the Queen
We join the nation in mourning the loss of Her Majesty the Queen. Our thoughts are with the Royal Family at this immensely sad time.
The Queen has been Help Musicians’ Patron since 1953 and we are deeply indebted to her for the life-long service she has given this country.
As Patron, the Queen has played a hugely important role in the life of Help Musicians, and we have been honoured to welcome her to numerous events in aid of the charity over the years, including a number of Royal Concerts where we celebrated the value of music with some of the nation’s most talented musicians.
Greeting Janet Baker at a fundraising concert at the Royal Albert Hall in 1984
At a fundraising concert with Sir Arthur Bliss at the Royal Festival Hall, 1955
Her involvement with our charity is noted as far back as during the Second World War, during which time she attended several lunchtime concerts at a picture-less National Gallery in London with her mother, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, and sister, Princess Margaret.
These concerts were organised by Myra Hess, who felt the British public were deprived of music during the wartime period and saw these concerts as a way of providing income for out-of-work musicians. The concerts went on to raise over £10,000 for the charity.
Music lovers queue outside the National Gallery for a Myra Hess lunchtime concert, 1939
In a letter to Frank Howes, the Queen’s private secretary wrote “The Queen looks back to her visits to the National Gallery Concerts as some of the happiest hours of the dark times through which we have passed”.
It is impossible to put into words the legacy that Queen Elizabeth II leaves behind; and as we mourn, we remember the positive impact Her Majesty had on our charity, which for over 100 years has supported the nation’s musicians through times of crisis and opportunity.