Jeremy Irons at A Celebration of Christmas at St. Paul’s Cathedral

Jeremy Irons was one of the readers at A Celebration of Christmas, at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, on Thursday 19 December 2013.

Jeremy read some passages from The Bible and also the “Christmas Day” entry from The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ by Sue Townsend. (Scroll down for the full text.)

Here is audio of Jeremy reading on of the Bible passages at the event (Thank you to a TEAM JEREMY member in London for this recording!) –

View the full photo set HERE.

There was standing room only at St Paul’s as the annual Celebration of Christmas concert enthralled almost 2,500 people.

The concert, sponsored by Lloyds Banking Group and performed by the Cathedral Choir and City of London Sinfonia on Thursday 19 December, saw a mix of congregational carols, works for choir and readings from four very special guests – Jeremy Irons, Tim Pigott-Smith, Trevor Phillips and Emily Watson.

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The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾

by Sue Townsend

“Christmas Day

Got up at 5 AM to have a ride on my racing bike. My father paid for it with American Express. I couldn’t ride it far because of the snow, but it didn’t matter. I just like looking at it. My father had written on the gift tag attached to the handlebars, ‘Don’t leave it out in the rain this time’-as if I would!

My parents had severe hangovers, so I took them breakfast in bed and gave them my presents at the same time. My mother was overjoyed with her egg-timer and my father was equally delighted with his bookmark, in fact everything was going OK until I casually mentioned that Bert and Queenie were my guests for the day, and would my father mind getting out of bed and picking them up in his car.

The row went on until the lousy Sugdens arrived. My grandma and grandad Sugden and Uncle Dennis and his wife Marcia and their son Maurice all look the same, as if they went to funerals every day of their lives. I can hardly believe that my mother is related to them. The Sugdens refused a drink and had a cup of tea whilst my mother defrosted the turkey in the bath. I helped my father carry Queenie (fifteen stone) and Bert (fourteen stone) out of our car. Queenie is one of those loud types of old ladies who dye their hair and try to look young. Bert is in love with her. He told me when I was helping him into the toilet.

Grandma Mole and Auntie Susan came at twelve-thirty and pretended to like the Sugdens. Auntie Susan told some amusing stories about life in prison but nobody but me and my father and Bert and Queenie laughed.

I went up to the bathroom and found my mother crying and running the turkey under the hot tap. She said, ‘The bloody thing won’t thaw out, Adrian. What am I going to do?’ I said, ‘Just bung it in the oven’. So she did.

We sat down to eat Christmas dinner four hours late. By then my father was too drunk to eat anything. The Sugdens enjoyed the Queen’s Speech but nothing else seemed to please them. Grandma Sugden gave me a book called Bible Stories for Boys. I could hardly tell her that I had lost my faith, so I said thank-you and wore a false smile for so long that it hurt.

The Sugdens went to their camp beds at ten o’clock. Bert, Queenie and my mother and father played cards while I polished my bike. We all had a good time making jokes about the Sugdens. Then my father drove Bert and Queenie back to the home and I phoned Pandora up and told her that I loved her more than life itself.

I am going round to her house tomorrow to give her the deodorant and escort her to the pantomime.”