Queen to have audience with the 'Queen of Soul'

US soul diva Aretha Franklin will perform for the British Queen at her Golden Jubilee celebrations next year, the singer has announced.

Franklin, 60, will perform four or five songs for 15,000 invited guests in the gardens of Buckingham Palace on the Jubilee Weekend in June.

In a statement released by her Los Angeles-based publicist Sanford Brokaw yesterday, Franklin said: ‘‘This is such a wonderful invitation, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

‘‘You just don’t get that many invitations to sing for the Queen of England. I’m going to go the extra mile to be there.’’

The event will be aired on BBC television and radio, and will be broadcast in the US at a later date.

Franklin, the first female performer inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, has won 15 Grammy Awards, the Grammy Legend Award and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

She performed at former US President Bill Clinton’s inauguration in 1993, and has given at least one Royal Command Performance. Her voice has been designated a natural resource of the State of Michigan.