A POOLE singer and musician has received a Royal thumbs-up after composing two new verses of the national anthem to mark the Queen's diamond jubilee.

Roger Brooks, of Branksome Park, was thrilled to receive a letter of thanks from Buckingham Palace after he sent them the new lyrics.

And the 80-strong Voice Community Choir performed the amended anthem, dressed in red, white and blue, in Bournemouth on Wednesday night.

Mr Brooks, a former journalist and radio station manager, said: “The Queen has done a marvellous job for this country.

“I thought it was time to re-energise the national anthem to reflect this and we wanted to express our appreciation and loyalty in the way we know best - by singing it out loud and clear.

“I wanted to give the anthem some relevance to this particularly wonderful, historic and celebratory occasion.”

The two versus were originally penned in around ten-minutes, before being fine-tuned in the proceeding weeks.

“I thought if I can find words that were honest, appreciative and suitably regal then why not give it a go?” said Mr Brooks.

“I wrote to the Queen and after about a fortnight received a letter back saying Her Majesty thanks you, which dispelled my wife's fear that I could end up in the tower.

“I'm not kidding myself that the Queen is now walking around Buck House singing my version though.”

During the choir's performance members dressed in the colours of the Union Jack - one singer even dyed her hair red, white and blue.

God Save the King was originally composed by Thomas Augustine Arne and first sung in 1745.

The new verses

And now we celebrate

Six dutiful decades

God Save the Queen

Symbol of unity

Service and dignity

Our grateful thanks we offer thee

God save the Queen

Head of our Commonwealth

God keep her in good health

And majesty

Lead our democracy

Cherished across the seas

This diamond toast we raise to thee

God save the Queen

We all know the words to the first verse of God Save the Queen, but what about later verses?