JOHN CLEESE, Ray Winstone, Phil Jupitus, Russell Brand, Barack Obama and even Dame Anna Neagle are said to be Hammers fans. But now the club may have received the royal assent with rumours that the Queen s blue blood has turned claret and blue. It may wel

JOHN CLEESE, Ray Winstone, Phil Jupitus, Russell Brand, Barack Obama and even Dame Anna Neagle are said to be Hammers fans.

But now the club may have received the royal assent with rumours that the Queen's blue blood has turned claret and blue.

It may well be silly season in the national newspapers at the moment, but the story suggests that the Queen has been a follower of the Hammers since meeting Ron Greenwood in 1981, when she presented the former West Ham manager with his CBE.

The Queen came to Upton Park in 2002 when she opened the brand new Dr Martens stand, meeting then chairman Terry Brown as well as young Hammer Joe Cole.

The newspaper quotes a Windsor Park source who said: "The Queen has never wanted people to know who she supports as she wants to be seen to be neutral.

"But she gave up her secret after overhearing one of her staff - a Millwall fan - talking to a colleague about the derby game with West Ham.

"They were quite shocked as she's not exactly a typical West Ham fan."

West Ham have certainly been favoured in the honours lists. As well as Greenwood's CBE, both Trevor Brooking and Geoff Hurst received knighthoods, while Billy Bonds, Martin Peters and of course, Bobby Moore have also been honoured.

It sounds like a tall story, but just in case it isn't, we've mocked up (right) how the Queen may look if she were discussing Gianfranco Zola's Christmas Tree formation.