His wife, Christabel McEwen, is a member of a landed Scottish family who was previously married to Edward Lambton, the 7th Earl of Durham. Would Jools say he was part of the Establishment? “Well first, I’d have to work out what the Establishment means, Bryony.” (He accessorises the end of every sentence with your name, leading you to believe that you are best friends, which might explain why he has been called both the nicest man in London and the best connected.) “But if it means that you love the Queen… well yes, I’m Establishment.”
Holland and his wife are good friends with the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall. They attended their wedding in 2005. “It was marvellous,” he says. “Absolutely lovely. When you walked into the chapel (at Windsor Guildhall), it was like stepping into a medieval world, with all the beautiful language that was used in the service.”
Did Jools take to the piano afterwards? “Well, no. I mean, it wasn’t that sort of knees-up.” But he has heard that the Queen is a fair hand at the keyboard. Would he like to see Her Majesty tinkling the ivories at the Diamond Jubilee concert at Buckingham Palace tonight? “I don’t think that would be quite appropriate, do you, Bryony?” he says, feigning crossness.
Holland is tight-lipped about what he has in store for this evening. “I’m going to be performing with the soul singer Ruby Turner, but I don’t know if I’m allowed to say any more than that.” He is incredibly excited about taking to the stage in front of the monarch. “She has been the Queen all my life and I think she has been the best Queen that Britain has ever had,’’ he says.
''I just want to congratulate her. The great thing about her is that she always sort of gets it right. And I don’t think anybody from the world of politics or showbiz or whatever has consistently got it right. So it doesn’t matter what part of the political spectrum you are from – I think this is a moment for all of us to celebrate, to feel pride in. I really like the idea that there might be people watching this weekend in, say, Seattle, who will be slightly better informed afterwards about the way we do things in the UK.”
Holland knows better than anybody else how we do things here. In 2006, he was given the title of Deputy Lieutenant of Kent, the county in which he lives. What on earth does this medieval-sounding role involve, I ask.
“Well Bryony, I am the servant of the Lord Lieutenant, who is, in turn, the representative of the Queen – I am the helper of a helper of a helper. The idea is to promote the identity of the county. Centuries ago, our job was to offer protection to the county. If you needed a safe passage through Kent, apparently the person you would talk to would have been me. I would have lit beacons to warn of foreign invaders or something. But nowadays I think we will be all right on that front, and it’s more about celebrating the different people in the county.”
Holland is fascinated by the past – he lives in a house that looks very medieval “with little turrets, and we hold jousting tournaments watched by ladies in wimples”. On most of those counts, I think he is joking. Anyway, next weekend the BBC will broadcast a documentary he has made about the history of music in London. On Later with Jools Holland, he may champion new, edgy indie bands, but he believes that the most interesting things in music “happened before recording came into play. For instance, did you know that the chimes of Big Ben were written by Handel?”
We talk a bit about his favourite guests on Later, one of whom happens to have been a certain Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, who appeared on the programme while her husband was in office. Was she a diva? “Not at all. She did a cheeky impression of a person we both knew,” he says, though he won’t reveal who. “She had French secret service men with her, who stood outside her dressing room. They were all wearing polo-necks and medallions and had very slick hair. It was really quite amusing.”
Tonight, Jools Holland OBE will perform at the palace on the same bill as Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Elton John and Sir Cliff Richard. Given that he is such a man of the people, such a national treasure, I can’t help thinking that he deserves a knighthood. Sir Jools Holland has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?
“If you say so,” he laughs. “I’m happy with what I’ve got, Bryony, but I won’t complain if someone wants to add to that…”
'Jools Holland: London Calling’ is on BBC Two on Saturday at 9pm
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
No comments:
Post a Comment