A CHOIRBOY has seen off competition from nearly 20,000 other children for the chance to sing in front of the Queen for her Diamond Jubilee.

Ross Ingram, 11, of The Beacons, Loughton, will be among 40 children in the Diamond Choir, which will perform a specially-written hymn at St Paul’s Cathedral on June 5.

His mother, Jacqueline Ingram, said: “He’s always liked singing, since he was very young, but I don’t think we realised how good he was.

“It was such a shock he’d got in, because there was so much competition.”

The former pupil of Loyola Prep School, Buckhurst Hill, where he sang in the choir, had to write an application to jubilee organisers before auditioning at St Paul’s.

“When he came back, he felt he had done really well,” said Mrs Ingram. “The choir master at St Paul’s was very pleased with him and told him how much potential he had.”

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