ALED Jones was the boy treble who captivated the world with his angelic voice - carving a place in our Christmases forever with his hit, Walking In The Air.

Selling more than seven million albums, Aled was the original classical crossover star. His recording from animated film The Snowman established him as a household name.

Equally at home on the classical stage or starring in musical theatre in the West End, his credits include lead roles in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Irving Berlin’s White Christmas. As a singer, Aled has performed in landmark global venues, from the Royal Albert Hall to the Sydney Opera House. He even gave a private performance to King Charles III in Kensington Palace.

As an award-winning TV presenter and radio broadcaster, he heads up BBC’s Songs of Praise and his own Saturday and Sunday morning shows on Classic FM.

Now, after 40 years in the business, Aled is looking back on a remarkable career with a one-man show featuring never-before-heard music, tales from over the decades. It’s time, he says, to come Full Circle - the title of both his new book and tour.

Those who enjoy fame as children, or stars on talent shows, are often here-today and gone-tomorrow. Aled has broken that mould. Having enjoyed a successful four-year career as a child, during which he became the most interviewed guest on TV’s Wogan chat show, Aled forged a new career. He became a star in the West End, in Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s Joseph, while teaming up with Lorraine Kelly, as co-host on ITV’s Daybreak.

“I’ve always felt lucky, having the career I have, but as I get older, I feel that I’m so honoured to be living this life,” says Aled. “I love what I do for a living. I’ve been so fortunate to be a part of people’s lives for so many years. I feel almost teary when I think about it.”

The fun part came when he was hanging out with Royalty and singing in the Royal Albert Hall as a boy.

“It felt like being the heavyweight boxing champion of the world, and until you get knocked out it’s great. I knew that my boyhood was to be short lived but for those four years I crammed in as much as I could,” he says. “Maximum singing and maximum fun! The fun bit was down to my mum and dad, really. When I was back at school, it was interesting, to say the least!”

One of many highlights was his private performance for Prince Charles and Princess Diana in their home in Kensington Palace: “The Palace rang my dad at work and he put the phone, down thinking it was a practical joke. Then an equerry rang back and said the call was for real!

“Prince Charles apparently loved my voice and wanted to hear me sing before my voice broke. How would Thursday evening be? My dad said: ‘Yes, that will be fine.’ So off I went from North Wales, with my mum and my pianist, and I arrived at Kensington Palace. We knew the butler well, because he was a friend of my great uncle, and I remember sitting in their private front room. I sat on one sofa and my accompanist from North Wales, Annette Bryn Parri, who had never been to London, much less Kensington Palace, sat on the other, with my mother also in the room.

“We waited in silence, until the Prince entered first. ‘Mrs Jones, or can I call you Nest?’ He said: ‘What would you like to drink?’ And I could see my mum thinking: ‘Does he mean coffee, or tea?’ It was as though time had stood still. And then he placed a hand on her knee and said: ‘You’ll join me in a gin and tonic, won’t you?’ And she breathed a sigh of relief and said yes. Diana came bounding in, she’d got wet hair because she’d been swimming. I sang for an hour, whatever songs they wanted.”

Then there was the performance at the wedding of Bob Geldof married Paula Yates, with rock royalty as guests.

Recalls Aled: “It was utterly beautiful. I sang my songs, and remember looking into the congregation and seeing a sea of famous faces. After the service I was sitting by the organ with Jess and Simon Le Bon, who was best man, came up to me saying: ‘I loved your singing, but more than anything, I love your socks.’

“At my school, at the time, there was a fad for wearing luminous socks, one orange and one green, and I wore those for the wedding. In the house guests had gathered for photos. I was told to stand behind a big chair. I had no idea that the man sitting in front of me, whose shoulder I had my hand on was David Bowie!

“Bob Geldof suggested we all went out to play rounders. I was on Bob's team. Light started to fade and I heard Bob shout: ‘Al, take off one of your socks will you?' We put one of my luminous socks on the ball so we could see it as it started to get dark. It was all surreal.”

When Aled became a talk show host, he says a highlight guest was Julie Andrews: “There’s a video of us singing Edelweiss, at the end she gives me a kiss. She’s one of the greatest film stars of my generation.”

Dame Julie invited Aled to sing on her tour: “She was so lovely. She wrote me a letter at the end of the tour. I have it framed in my office. Working with her is one of the highlights of my career.”

* Aled Jones is at King’s Hall, Ilkley, on November 7. Visit bradford-theatres.co.uk