Henrietta Barnett School pupil sings for the Queen at St Paul’s Cathedral

A musical teen hit the right note at the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations after being chosen from more than 400 youths to sing in front of royalty at St Paul’s Cathedral.

Lara Cosmetatos, 13, of Raleigh Road, Hornsey, was one of just 40 children picked from across the country to be part of the Diamond Choir at the service of thanksgiving at St Paul’s on Tuesday (June 5).

Lara, who only had a day-and-a-half practice with the other members of the choir, found out a month ago that she had been picked to perform in front of the Queen.

Her father Peter said: “She has done a lot of stuff like singing at the Hammersmith Apollo with Paul McCartney, so we were hopeful she would win a spot.

“When she found out she had been picked she was very excited. Since then she has become a staunch monarchist which she never was before. She won’t here anything negative about the Queen.”

The Henrietta Barnett School pupil got her father a ticket to the performance – which was a resounding success.

“It was amazing to be in there,” Mr Cosmetatos said. “I was a few rows away from Boris Johnson.

“I had to watch on a screen the BBC had put up, but they showed Lara and it was great. The funny thing is that I wonder how much we would have gotten into the Jubilee without this.

“For us, this made the whole event and experience very real and relevant for us.”