Leonard Cohen and The Queen
The Queen has emerged as a Leonard Cohen fan after she requested his song Hallelujah be played at the Diamond Jubilee Pageant. REUTERS

The Queen has emerged as a Leonard Cohen fan after she requested his song Hallelujah be played at the diamond jubilee pageant.

Canadian group the Tenors will play alongside the Royal Canadian Mounted Police at the event to be held at Windsor Castle.

The Queen heard the Tenors play Hallelujah when she toured Canada just two years ago and fell in love with it, the band said.

Tenors singer Victor Micallef said: "She told us how much she enjoyed Hallelujah. It was her favourite."

Cohen, the 77-year-old Canadian singer/songwriter, is known as the Godfather of Gloom because of his depressive lyrics.

He was inducted in to the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in 2008 just after Prince Charles admitted he was a big fan of the glum singer.

Over the years, the Queen's likes and dislikes have slowly been revealed. Royalists know that she hates missing an episode of Countdown and enjoys plain cheese and celery more than rich, indulgent foods.

Her love for keeping food in Tupperware containers, listening to an old-fashioned transistor radio and a love for Coronation Street have also become well-known.

Royal butler Paul Burrell revealed on I'm a Celebrity Get me Out of Here that the Queen loves to make her own cup of tea.