Party at Palace is hit for Queen

The Queen will today join the ranks of pop superstars as she becomes the first royal to receive a gold disc.

She will be handed the gold CD in her Golden Jubilee year for the album Party At The Palace - which featured pop knights Paul McCartney and Elton John, plus acts such as The Corrs and Atomic Kitten - after it sold a staggering 100,000 copies in a week.

The Queen will be presented with the disc by EMI's UK chief executive Tony Wadsworth at the end of her tour of Britain's first "fame" school of performing arts in Croydon.

When asked where the Queen would hang it, a senior royal aide said: "I am sure it will get pride of place at the Palace." The CD of the jubilee rock concert at Buckingham Palace is expected to raise up to £20 million for charity.

The album is also tipped to break sales records for a compilation after BBC Worldwide reached a distribution deal with EMI.

The party in the Queen's "back yard" was the pinnacle of the Golden Jubilee weekend. More than 12,000 ticket holders were allowed into the Palace grounds for the party, with millions more watching on television.