Sir Tim Rice is heading out on tour to celebrate his life in musicals which incredibly spans six decades. He is the wordsmith who penned the lyrics to Joseph and The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, The Lion King, Beauty and The Beast and Chess. And in his live theatre show My Life In Musicals: I Know Him So Well, he will tell stories about working with Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, Sir Elton John, ABBA’s Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus as well as the likes of Freddie Mercury , Madonna, Sir Cliff Richard and Elvis Presley . However, in a surprising admission he has revealed there is one very famous royal face, whom he worked with, who could have had a successful West End career but decided against it. And that is none other than Prince Edward – who is now The Duke of Edinburgh. Back in 1986 the royal asked Sir Andrew to pen a mini-musical for his mum The Queen as a surprise 60 th birthday gift. He enlisted the help of long term friend Sir Tim and the pair came up with a 30 minute comedy piece called Cricket. The songwriter, who is 80, revealed: “lt was a private performance in a drawing room at Windsor Castle. We enjoyed it and I think to be fair they did find it quite amusing. They were very polite and applauded and laughed in the right places. “It featured horse racing as well as cricket so there was a definite feeling The Queen knew we were sending up the racing world as much as the cricket world so I think she enjoyed that.” Asked if the prince - who at the time was working for Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Group as a production assistant – performed in the show, he said: “He did sing in it. “He played a cricketer who had actually apparently died when he got hit by a cricket ball and in fact at the end of the show he got up at the end saying ‘I'm feeling better’.” And when quizzed if the royal could have had a successful West End career, he said: “He was good enough, I think, but he probably thought ‘Well it's an advantage and a disadvantage to be royal’. “I think he's a lovely bloke and he and his wife Sophie have done a lot of great work over the years. I think he is probably.. well I hope he is.. a very satisfied man. He's done a good job.” Sir Tim, who was born in Buckinghamshire, started off his music career by working as a management trainee at EMI Records in London when he was 22. He later landed the role as an assistant producer with Norrie Paramour who worked with the likes of Cliff Richard and The Shadows. At the time, Sir Tim also helped out as a session singer and few people know he sang backing vocals on The Scaffold’s Lily The Pink which reached number one in 1968. Another jobbing musician, who also sang on the track, was a young man called Reg Dwight who, of course, went to become one of the world’s most successful songwriters Sir Elton John. It is almost like it was destiny that the pair would later work together and become such a winning combination but back then both were ‘unknowns’. Sir Tim says: “It’s funny because I just do not remember Elton being there. I mean he was unknown at the time, as was I. He was a backing singer and played keyboards and he did a lot of session work so I must have met him but neither of us would have remembered meeting the other.” Someone he does remember meeting was Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber in the 1960s. His first impressions? “I just thought he was very good at writing his tunes,” he recalls. “I mean the first time I met him he sat down at the piano and said ‘I've written a few shows’.. and he had - at school! He was also very polite and he’d say “Gosh! The lyrics are terrific!” The pair hit it off right away and had a go at writing their very first – and little known musical – called The Likes of Us. It was a flop. But he jokes: “I am glad it didn't succeed because although it showed promise particularly in the music department but it was not a very good story. “I mean it was a worthy story about Dr Barnardo, the Victorian philanthropist, but it wasn't very exciting. Although the songs were okay it was the story that let us down and it taught me very early on that when writing musicals you've got to have a good story.” It didn’t take long before they hit the big time though in the West End theatre world with Jesus Christ Superstar in 1972, Joseph in 1974 and finally Evita in 1978. By then, their songs including I Don’t Know How To Love Him, Any Dream Will Do and Don’t Cry For Me, Argentina were becoming known across the globe. However, if fans were expecting the next big thing from the pair, it never materialised. Sir Tim explains: “I think if we'd done something after Evita, it would have had a good chance of being a hit but in fact Andrew went off and did Cats which didn't need any lyrics. He was setting poems by TS Elliot to his music so consequently there was nothing for me to do. “So the great British or American public did not get another Webber-Rice musical. But it didn't really matter because they got Cats and Phantom and then Chess and The Lion King so in a way they probably got more than they would have done otherwise.” However, there is good news as the pair have got back together to write a handful of songs for a new comedy called Sherlock Holmes and The 12 Days of Christmas which will be out later this year. But Sir Tim stresses: “It is a comedy that has some songs in it. I wouldn't pretend it's a fully blown musical.” After the success of Evita, the writer did not put his feet up as he went on to work with ABBA songwriters Benny and Bjorn on a musical Chess which has spawned hits such as I Know Him So Well, One Night in Bangkok and Anthem. The show has had a mixed reception from the critics who were left baffled by the concept of a musical based around a board game and set against the backdrop of the 1980s Cold War. Subsequently it has gone through many changes since it launched in 1984 and productions are still going on around the world. But Sir Tim reckons a film version could help the cynics appreciate the show in its full glory adding: “I think a movie of Chess would be good but I can't see it happening unless there's a big Broadway smash edition of it. “But we must remember Wicked was around for a long time on stage before it became a movie. It shows how a great score can become a film many many years later.” And after Chess, his next big success came when he was invited by Disney to write the lyrics for their 1994 animated movie The Lion King. It was he who suggested they get Sir Elton to do the music and it proved a winning combination. Their songs including Can You See The Love Tonight, Hakuna Matata and Circle of Life are now among Disney’s most famous. He does reveal that one started off life as a very different song. “There was a completely different song called Circle of Life,” he says. “We wrote it as a sort of uptempo song and it was vaguely funny but it wasn't quite right and it quite rightly did not make the cut. “Disney said ‘We really need a more serious song here for the opening’.. and the opening sequence was pretty amazing.. it’s with all the animals coming forward. Some songs that wound up in the film were not always the first attempt that anyone sees.” Asked what he thinks of Sir Elton whom he also worked with on Aida, he says: “He is so gifted. He is an unusual guy with such great talent. But he is down to earth. He doesn’t play the big star if he is chatting to you one to one. He never would.” Asked if The Rocketman would make him a cuppa, the father-of-five laughed: “I’m sure he would.” Sir Tim has an impressive catalogue of A List stars he has worked with over the years. He wrote two songs for Queen frontman Freddie Mercury’s 1987 solo album Barcelona. The flamboyant singer – who died in 1991 - was struggling to write lyrics for a couple of tracks and asked a pal “Call Mrs Rice!”. He says Freddie wanted to write an opera and he wished he could have done more with him. But he explained: “I thought Freddie would be a great person to write a full show with or an opera because he was so talented and I think he wanted to have a go at that. “But tragically of course he got ill and that was about it. I treasure getting to know him and meeting him sad to say he died not long after.” Sir Tim is also good friends with Sir Cliff. They met in the 1960s and the prominent Christian was actually set to be the first singer to launch Joseph in the West End. He says: “Shortly after Superstar became a hit and Joseph was mooted as a theatrical show in the West End, Cliff was interested in playing Joseph. “Back then he was still very young and I remember going to his house in about 1974 and discussing the possibility of doing Joseph which he really wanted to do but it didn't happen for some reason.” The pair had to wait another 22 years to work together. In 1996, the Peter Pan of Pop enlisted his services to co-write his 1996 musical Heathcliff with musician John Farrar. With so many musicals and hit songs under his belt, it raises the question which one he thinks he will be remembered for most when he shuffles off to the great theatre in the sky. Sir Tim says: “I think they will probably play Don’t Cry For Me Argentina on the radio but as far as my choice… Circle of Life would be nice. That is a song about the circle of life! “I think that would be a nice song to have. But I’d rather not think about it really.. as long as it’s something that my kids like, that will be good.” * Sir Tim Rice: My Life In Musicals I Know Him So Well launches on April 11 in Reading and runs until June 1. Tickets for the tour available www.nlp-ltd.com/tim-rice/ Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .