The Queen has been mixing with a host of stars at London's Royal Academy of Arts for an evening of Jubilee celebrations.

The Queen met Simply Red star Mick Hucknall at the celebration of the arts - but forgot she had met him before.

The singer was among about 600 celebrity guests, including Baroness Thatcher and Lord and Sir David Attenborough.

Not for the first time, she inquired to Hucknall at the Royal Academy gala: "And what do you do?"

"I could not tell her we had met before - that would have been a faux pas," said a Mr Hucknall, who met the Queen with singer Kate Bush.

"I just said we were singer-songwriters.

"I'm not offended, after all she's a grandmother."

Baroness Thatcher made an appearance

Hucknall added: "I wanted to ask her if she realised how much she is loved in the country, travelling around on her Golden Jubilee - but I thought it wasn't done to ask the Queen a question.

"The thing about my generation is that I can meet the Queen and the Sex Pistols - in fact, the first record I bought was God Save The Queen by the Sex Pistols."

Actors attending included Kate Winslet, Vanessa Redgrave, Sir John Mills, Sir Michael Gambon, and Dame Maggie Smith.

Joanna Lumley was among the thespian guests

The Duke of Edinburgh and Duke of Kent accompanied the Queen to the event, at Burlington House in Piccadilly.

Also accompanying her were Viscount Linley, and Lady Helen Taylor with her husband Timothy.

The guests saw the Queen giving �10,000 bursaries to promising newcomers in the visual arts, drama, dance, music and directing.

Writers were represented at the academy by JK Rowling, Frederick Forsyth, Martin Amis and Beryl Bainbridge.

Artists and designers among the festivities were Peter Blake, David Hockney, Nicole Farhi, and Stella McCartney.

Also present were Jools Holland, Griff Rhys Jones, Sir Simon Rattle, Sam Mendes, and Dame Vera Lynn.

Michael Gambon was also there to celebrate the arts

Bursary winners included Helen Ray, 20, a former nursing-home care assistant from Sutton in Ashfield, Nottinghamshire - for classical music.

Caitlin Hughes, 13, a ballerina from Dulwich, south London, won a bursary for dancing.

Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, 24, an artist from south London, was awarded for the visual arts.

Shereen Ibrahim, 22, a drama student from Dublin, was honoured for theatre.

Dan and Stephanie Crawford, who run the King's Head Theatre in Islington, north London, won a bursary for their contribution to directing.

Portrait

There were performances and contributions from the Royal Academy of Music Jazz Quartet, Stan Tracey, Jools Holland, Kala Sangam, and the London Community Gospel Choir.

In addition, the Queen opened the new Annenberg Courtyard and switched on fountains which were choreographed to Handel's Water Music.

Pop artist Peter Blake painted a portrait of the Queen, from a photograph by Lord Lichfield, for the occasion.

The Queen has just opened the new public gallery at Buckingham Palace, featuring priceless works from the Royal Collection.