Westminster, London — According to reports from inside Buckingham Palace, Queen Elizabeth II of England surprised a private gathering today when she played three songs on the sitar. The audience, which included dignitaries from Hong Kong, Zimbabwe, and Toledo, Ohio, said they were quite impressed with the Queen’s skill on the ancient Indian stringed instrument.
“I was there with my global team to discuss alternative energy investment in the third world,” said President and CEO Milton Rutledge of the Ohio-based alternative energy fund Energy Advisors. “And everything was going great. She is on-board with investing in green energy. But as we were leaving, she told us to wait a minute, and she pulled out this fancy Sitar and started to play. She was pretty good.”
According to Energy Advisors Zimbabwe Operations Director Dani Aneni, the Queen made a point to play music she thought the team would recognize.
“The first song she played was the Beatles ‘Let It Be.’ Then she played Rocket Man, you know the Elton John song,” said Ms. Aneni with a wry grin. “Then she played one I didn’t recognize, but Milton said he thought it was a Frank Zappa song.”
A Buckingham Palace spokesperson told The Fazzler that the Queen has always been a great fan of the Sitar and has been practicing for over 18 years. This was her first, albeit small, performance in front of strangers. She has been playing for the Royal family for the past ten years and recently learned Frank Zappa’s popular song “Peaches En Regalia” from start to finish and was excited to play it for the Energy Advisors team.
The spokesperson also said the Queen is a fan of Elvis Costello and the American composer George Gershwin. No word whether she can play any of their songs on the sitar.
