When singer Laura Wright performs God Save The Queen for the England rugby team ahead of their Six Nations clash with Ireland it looks set to stir up some friendly family rivalry.
Beautiful Laura was appointed the Rugby Football Union’s official anthem singer in November 2012. But the 23-year-old has kept quiet about her Irish family until now.
“My mother’s side of the family are Irish,” she says.
“Me and my elder brothers – Seamus, Paddy and Liam – all take after our Irish side. On Saturday my gran will certainly be rooting for Ireland but I’m England through and through. When England play Ireland, I want England to win so I hope gran won’t boo when I sing,” she joked.
Laura was born and raised in Suffolk and currently lives in Windsor with her brother Paddy.
“‘Our family is dotted around Ireland, but mostly Galway and Dublin,” she says.
“My grandmother is the strongest link with the family over there. I’ve sung with the RTÉ orchestra in Dublin and I think that’s a beautiful city and I love Irish culture.”
So much so, it seems, that Laura even has a dream of becoming the Rose of Tralee.
“I’ve always talked about taking part in the Rose Of Tralee, which would be amazing because I’m very proud of being Irish and of that part of my family,” she says. “I’ve seen bits of it and often been told about it by my grandmother. For my chosen talent, obviously I would sing.”
Last summer Laura graduated with a first class degree in Music at the Royal College Of Music in London.
But she’s been a big noise in the classical music world since she was 15 when she won a BBC Radio 2 Chorister of the Year award.
She later became a member of quartet All Angels for several years, and her debut solo album, The Last Rose, topped the Classical Compilation Albums Chart.
To date she has performed at top venues such as Wembley Stadium and the Royal Albert Hall and worked with artists including Russell Watson, Alfie Boe, Andrea Bocelli, and Gary Barlow.
But nothing thrills her more than singing at Twickenham.
“It’s amazing,” she said. “It’s a real honour and something I’ve been lucky enough to do several times now, but every time is different and there’s always varying amounts of emotion depending on what game it is and the people who are there watching.”
And Laura is no stranger to the rugby pitch herself. Known as ‘the Scrummy Soprano’ she also plays rugby for Rosslyn Park Ladies team.
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