“Last time I met King Charles, I had a suit made instead of wearing shorts”

Glastonbury Festival founder Michael Eavis has joked that he will take tickets to to the Festival with him to Buckingham Palace, when he receives a Knighthood, as Prince William had expressed a desire to come to Pilton to check it all out for himself.

It has been confirmed that the 88-year-old will be knighted in the New Year Honours list, after the Festival he started has become one of the most celebrated in the world, and he has recognised for services to music and charity.

In an official announcement, Michael was hailed for creating “one of the greatest British artistic and philanthropic success stories of all time”.

Michael answered a Q&A on Glastonbury Festival’s website after the announcement and said: “I have had a good life and managed to keep the Festival going for 53 years. It’s all gone so well in the end. It took 25 years for the public to catch on. We started with 500 people in 1970 and we’ve finished up with millions wanting to come every year now. That’s quite extraordinary isn’t it?”

The Glastonbury founder also gave an insight into why he feels that the Festival has become such a huge triumph over the years. Michael said: “I’ve done quite a lot of stuff in my life and I’ve always been fairly sure that I was doing the right thing.”

In an official listing about the honour, Buckingham Palace hailed Glastonbury Festival for contributing “more than £2m to charities and good causes each festival year. As well as the endless list of causes he has supported are practical initiatives such as the provision of more than 50 social houses in Glastonbury Festival’s home village of Pilton, providing affordable accommodation to local people at government-controlled rents, and never to be sold.”

Michael expanded his thoughts about social housing in Pilton during the Q&A, saying: “I’ve been in the village all my life and I’ve seen all the council houses sold off, so there were no houses left to rent for working people. And private renting can be a nightmare. I think it’s so important to have a permanent stock of houses to rent at an affordable price. So that was the most important thing for me to do in this village really.”

With a big day out at Buckingham Palace on the horizon, Michael said that he might leave the shorts behind but make sure he has deep pockets for a gift for the royals.

Michael said: “Last time I met King Charles, I got a suit especially. And he said, ‘Why aren’t you wearing your shorts?’! But I think William might do the ceremony. He’s made a few mentions of wanting to come to the Festival. So I’ll probably take a couple of tickets in my pocket!”

It could be that the 2024 Festival could come with a royal blessing.