Poet

Bob delivering his poem 'The Duke and I'.On his left the late John Bromley of ITV Sport, Sir Tim Rice and the Duke of Edinburgh.

There aren’t many people who have had a poem written about them by the Duke of Edinburgh but Bob certainly has.

His poem about the Duke of Edinburgh, “The Duke and I”, performed at a 50th anniversary dinner held by the Lord’s Taverners in the Duke’s honour, achieved legendary status. In it Bob gently teased the Duke about never recognising him.

Ten years on at the 60th anniversary in St James’s Palace Bob delivered “The Duke and I – the Sequel”. In this the Duke and Bob are now best mates and hang out together.

But Prince Phillip was laying in wait and, at the end of the evening, delivered a verse about Bob.

“I was so stunned I couldn’t remember it,” said Bob, “but I do remember the punchline was “not enough room to swing a cat”.

“It was listening to my friend Richard Stilgoe that was the catalyst” says Bob. “Richard is a genius at writing parodies among other things and I decided to have a go.”

It was worth the effort.  The first poem he wrote was about Gary Lineker for the Footballer of the Year Dinner in 1992. It brought the house down.

Since then he has appeared at tribute lunches and dinners and produced poems and parodies for the not so-famous and for such celebrities as Lord Coe, David Gower,   Roy Hudd and Alan Simpson.

Another, at a media party held for the British Airways CEO, Sir Rod Eddington, was reproduced in the Sunday Times the following week-end.

Perhaps Bob’s most ambitious parody was produced in early 2009. Working on a Silver Seas ship during the West Indies v England Test Series, Bob wrote a parody of the song “Summer Holiday” and sang it on stage accompanied by former Manfred Mann lead singer and composer Mike D’Abo.
 

Click here to read some of Bob’s poems and parodies.