Read more: Who made the Queen’s gold grand piano? And how much is it worth? In 1973, the Queen also presented the Queen Mother with an honorary Doctor of Music degree from the Royal College of Music. The fact that the Queen had two honorary degrees in Music (awarded before she ascended the throne) – a Bachelor of Music (BMus) from the University of London and a Doctor of Music (DMus) from the University of Wales – is fittingly symbolic of her commitment to music. The writer of this article herself remembers watching a patient Queen stepping down from the Royal British Train in Penzance and taking a moment to kindly watch her and her bandmates busk out some jazzy ditty or other on the windy autumn platform (if nothing else demonstrates her time for music, this surely does). Her involvement in the nation’s musical life was reflected in the positions she appointed, musical honours she awarded regularly, her patronage of music and music institutions, and her regular attendance at concerts and other classical music events.

Throughout her 70-year reign, Queen Elizabeth II was a generous patron of classical music and the arts. Queen Elizabeth II’s support for classical music was generous, unwavering and all too easy to take for granted.

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