A BGT win for magician Jamie Raven wouldn’t be his first spell in front of the Queen

The professional conjurer was among the performers at Her Majesty’s 80th birthday celebrations

Emma Daly

Published: Saturday, 18 April 2015 at 8:15 pm

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For the past eight years we've watched act after act dance, sing, squark, bark, er, run around, for the chance to win Britain's Got Talent and perform in front of the Queen (and, oh yeah, win £250,000). But for one contestant this year, it would be a bit of a busman's holiday.

Magician Jamie Raven, who dazzled the judges with his card tricks on Saturday night – even Simon Cowell now believes! – actually performed at Her Majesty’s 80th birthday celebrations.

Nope, he didn’t magic himself into the grounds, he was one of the official garden party performers, who entertained the Queen's guests. He even got to meet her (although there was no big stage performance like tonight’s show – the Queen didn't settle down in a throne-shaped deck chair to watch him).

His prior experience wouldn’t take any of the shine off a spot on the Royal Variety of course. Why meet the Queen once when you can meet her twice, eh? Perhaps she’d wave from the box. Go, "Oh, that’s my old pal J-Dog"…

Jamie himself is a member of the world famous Magic Circle, and was accepted on his first attempt, with various tricks (as seen tonight) involving him transforming one thing into another. Here he is turning a drawing into £10 for a homeless person: