London Pride (song)

"London Pride" is a patriotic song written and composed by Noël Coward during the Blitz in World War II.

According to his own account, he was sitting on a seat on a platform in Paddington station, watching Londoners going about their business quite unfazed by the broken glass scattered around from the station's roof damaged by the previous night's bombing: in a moment of patriotic pride, he said that suddenly he recalled an old English folk song which had been apparently appropriated by the Germans for their national anthem, and it occurred to him that he could reclaim the melody in a new song.

Coward acknowledged one of the traditional cries of London ("Won't You Buy My Sweet-Blooming Lavender", also used in the musical Oliver!)

It contrasts with many of the major-key, grandiose melodies used to celebrate patriotism, including God Save The King and Land of Hope and Glory.

[6] In May 2015, Alexander Armstrong performed the song at VE Day 70: A Party to Remember at Horse Guards Parade in London.