The late Queen and Prince Philip loved to sing along to (Is This The Way To) Amarillo, Tony Christie has revealed.

The 81-year-old said they had told him it was their song of choice at royal knees-ups.

The singer said he was floored when the monarch let slip that she knew all the words to the track, which was released in the UK in 1971.

When Christie re-recorded the song with comedian Peter Kay for Comic Relief in 2005, it shot straight to No 1.

Christie said: 'I had lunch at the Palace where I met the Queen and Prince Philip. It was an honour. I am an absolute royalist.'

Asked if they knew the words to the song, he said: 'They shook my hand and they all knew [the lyrics]. She did. They all know [the words].

'They said it's the song they play at parties. They said: 'You sing the song that we play at parties!'

Christie said the royal couple had told him at a lunch for The Grand Order of the Water Rats – a British entertainment industry fraternity and charity – a few years before the Queen's death in 2022. Both Philip and he were members.

After performing the hit last Wednesday's Boisdale Xerjoff Music Awards, Christie – who is in the early stages of dementia – said: 'I won't release it again – it is a classic song.

'I've been very fortunate I've been given great songs all my life, so I am blessed.'