Jubilee albums to 'fly off shelves'

Old and new acts performed at the pop party

Two albums featuring the best moments from the Queen's Golden Jubilee celebration concerts go on sale on Monday.

The pop and classical concerts were held in the grounds of London's Buckingham Palace in June where royals mixed with a public audience.

The Party at the Palace features 21 tracks performed by artists such as Brian May, Sir Paul McCartney, Ozzy Osbourne and Will Young.

Sales are expected to top £20m, with profits going to charities nominated by the Queen.

Brian May performed on the roof of Buckingham Palace

A CD of the classical music concert at the palace, featuring Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and Mstislav Rostropovich, has also been produced.

An initial run of 100,000 of the rock CDs is being put out in the UK by record company EMI/Virgin, in agreement with BBC Worldwide. A further 100,000 DVDs and videos are being released in the UK on 1 July by BBC Opus Arte - a joint venture between BBC Worldwide and independent production company Opus Arte.

Surprise

There was huge interest in both concerts, each of which was watched by 12,000 people in the Palace grounds.

Another one million watched the rock gig on big screens outside - while some 15 million watched on TV.

"I think people will be surprised just how successful the CD will prove to be," said HMV sales expert Gennaro Castaldo.

Cliff Richard joined Paul McCartney for the finale

He said the "huge" interest in the CDs and DVDs would partly be down to the line-ups, but also because people would want to own a piece of Jubilee memorabilia.

Star-studded

DVDs and videos are going to be shipped to about 100 countries after up to 70 nations bought TV coverage of the event.

Retailers in the Netherlands have already placed orders for 20,000 DVDs and videos - and that country did not even broadcast the show.

The star-studded line-up of performers - which also included Tom Jones, Dame Shirley Bassey and Sir Cliff Richard - all offered their services for free.

Profits from the releases will be channelled to charities including Barnardo's, The Prince's Trust, The Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution and the British Commonwealth Ex-Services League.