Paul McCartney endorses the Queen

Superbly feathered hats off to Paul McCartney, who manages to combine fawning over The Queen with epochal self-aggrandisement:

Asked what he thought of The Queen, McCartney said: "She is the rock n' roll queen. Weirdly enough, that is one of the things her reign will be remembered for. Queen Elizabeth I, we remember Raleigh; Queen Elizabeth II, it's gonna be the Beatles."

The case for the Queen being the Rock & Roll Queen is, of course, somewhat undermined by the way that every time the camera cut to her during Gary Barlow's concert for the Jubilee, her majesty was pulling a face like a professional mourner losing at a lemon-sucking competition.

And how modest of Mr McCartney to suggest that his achievements might be on a par with Raleigh - explorer, poet, spy and politician. Mind you, Raleigh ended up in disgrace and being executed, so not without his own equivalent of the Frog Chorus.