AT THE QUEEN’S 92ND BIRTHDAY party in April 2018, a strange spectacle played out. Amidst appearances by the likes of Tom Jones, Kylie Minogue and Sting was a performance by the massed ranks of the George Formby Society, backed by the BBC Concert Orchestra, giving a rendition of “When I’m Cleaning Windows”.
This was in itself unsurprising; the Queen was an admirer of Formby, and had seen him perform when she was younger. There was even a rumour that she wanted to be president of the George Formby Society, but was dissuaded from doing so on the grounds that it would, complete with a noted character actor playing Formby.
