Royal Watch News

Dizzee Rascal fan Queen Elizabeth

Jul 31, 2012, 12:01 GMT

Dizzee Rascal

Britain's Queen Elizabeth is a 'great fan' of Dizzee Rascal.

The monarch enjoys the music of the 'Holiday' hitmaker, her grandson Prince William revealed to UK Prime Minister David Cameron when he performed at the Olympic Games opening ceremony on Friday (27.07.12).

In a speech at a reception at London's Royal Academy of Arts last night (30.07.12), Mr. Cameron turned to William's wife Duchess Catherine and said: 'My favourite part of the opening ceremony was when your husband leant over and said to me 'I don't know if you know, Prime Minister, but my grandmother is a great fan of Dizzee Rascal'.'

But it's not just the queen who is a fan of Dizzee as following his opening ceremony performance, his hit single 'Bonkers' saw a massive rise in streams on Spotify of 1,258 per cent.

Mr. Cameron also spoke of his pride in the British entertainment industry to the 800-strong audience - including Lily Cole, DJ Fearne Cotton and Stella McCartney - at the event, which was held as part of the government's GREAT campaign, which aims to use the platform of the Olympics to showcase Britain's capabilities and enhance its reputation abroad.

He added: 'Not many people know this but, if you want superstars, of course all the big actors currently playing Batman, Spiderman or Superman are all actually British.

'If it's storytelling you are after, three of the best movie franchises of all time - Bond, 'Lord Of The Rings' and 'Harry Potter' - are all British.

'If it's music you're after, of course Adele had the bestselling album this year.

'If it's television you're after, you need look no further than the fact that the president of the United States' favourite TV programme is overwhelmingly starring British actors, in of course 'Homeland'.'

As he went into the reception, Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt hailed the work Catherine, William and his brother Prince Harry have done as ambassadors for Team GB.

He said: 'I was just watching the men's gymnastics in front of Prince Harry and Prince William so I've gone from the duke to the duchess.

'What the royal family are brilliant at doing is showing we have the traditions but also we embrace the future.

'And there's something about Prince William and the Duchess that is so about the future and an exciting future for us as a country and obviously the creative industries we're celebrating tonight are part of that.'