ith the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee looming, let’s talk about royalty and music. There’s more to say than some might think. Some monarchs have had a massive effect on the music of their times. It’s likely, for instance, that Wagner would never have written his greatest operas – or at least not on the grand scale that he did – without lavish patronage from the more-than slightly-bonkers Ludwig II of Bavaria. Similarly, Louis XIV’s ostentatious cultural requirements at Versailles boosted
