Michael Eavis CBE

Queen honours Glasto organiser

14 Nov 07 - Glastonbuy Festival founder Michael Eavis received his CBE from The Queen this morning (Wednesday.)

The 72-year-old travelled from the West Country to the Queen's official residence in London, Buckingham Palace, to accept the honour in recognition of his contribution to music.

"It was quite moving actually, walking down through the hall," he told 6 Music; "It was very colourful, full of pomp and ceremony, the Beefeaters looked amazing and the Queen was good and chatty and friendly."

"She's quite endearing, she's quite warm, I've got lots of maiden aunts that are like her"
Michael Eavis on the Queen

"She said; 'Are you the fella that started it all?' ...is what she really wanted to know, and I said; 'Yes I am he, I am that person, yeah, and it's on my own farm.' And she asked; 'How does the farm suffer with the damage, the mud and things and how does it look now?"

Although Michael Eavis said the Queen wasn't exactly how he expected her to be:

"Well, she's not quite like the Helen Mirren character; a very stern Helen Mirren being picky about everything, I don't think she's actually like that at all."

"She's quite endearing, she's quite warm, I've got lots of maiden aunts that are like her. No, I don't think the film really does her justice."

Michael can now officially call himself Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, and add CBE to his name, but he says he's not about to get new business cards printed up:

"No I don't think i'll necessarily stick it on my mail, I don't want to be show-offy about it! I mean its very kind of them and I feel very honoured, but i'm not going to throw it around on everything I do."

Michael also told us he off to see a certain punk band this evening at London's Brixton Academy: "To see the Sex Pistols tonight, well what's left of them without Sid Vicious, it's not quite the same. To make a judgement tonight as to whether to book them for one or another of the stages for next year you know."

He added that he has had some calls as to whether the Sex Pistols will appear at Glastonbury already: "So I had their people on the phone, yeah. So I said look I will be in London Wednesday, and they said do you want to come round and just listen and make a judgement. So I am taking Emily to that."

The Verve have said they are lining themselves up to play the festival next year, but Michael says he has set plans for them, after his daughter Emily went to see them live: "She went to see them, I couldn't make it that night... she said they are absolutely marvellous, for the Sunday I think it will work, they gotta accept they are a Sunday band to start with I mean that’s the first thing, and it all depends who I have got for Friday and Saturday but it's looking very promising at the moment."


Lucy O'Doherty