King Charles III honored the late Tina Turner with a musical tribute during the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace.
The “Queen of Rock n’ Roll” died at the age of 83 Wednesday at her home in Küsnacht, Switzerland, after a long illness. Following her death, the recently crowned 74-year-old monarch authorized the Band of the Welsh Guards to play Turner’s song “The Best” during the famed ceremony in London Friday.
The Band of the Welsh Guards was accompanied by the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards Corps of Drums as they performed a rendition of the 1989 hit, according to the Mirror. The Changing of the Guard is the ceremony during which the King’s Guard hands over responsibility for protecting Buckingham Palace and St. James’s Palace to the New Guard.
Charles and his late ex-wife Princess Diana first met the music icon during the Prince’s Trust All-Star Rock Concert at London’s Wembley Arena in June 1986.
In a 2021 appearance on the “Time to Walk” podcast, Prince William revealed “The Best” has special meaning for the royal family. He recalled that Diana would play the song for him and his younger brother Prince Harry to soothe their anxieties over heading back to boarding school.
“When I was younger, Harry and I, we were at boarding school,” the Prince of Wales, 40, remembered. “And my mother used to play all sorts of songs to kind of while away the anxiety of going back to school.
“And one of the songs I massively remember and has stuck with me all this time, and I still, to this day, still quite enjoy secretly, is Tina Turner’s ‘The Best’ because sitting in the backseat, singing away, it felt like a real family moment.
“And my mother, she’d be driving along, singing at the top of her voice. And we’d even get the policeman in the car, he’d be occasionally singing along, as well.
“You’d be singing and listening to the music right the way out into the gates of school when they dropped you off,” William remembered. “And, and that’s when reality kind of sunk in that you really were going back to school because, before that, you’re lost in songs. You’ll want to play it again just to keep that family moment going.
“When I listen to it now, it takes me back to those car rides and brings back lots of memories of my mother.”
In August 1997, Diana died at the age of 36 following a car accident in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel in Paris. William and Harry, now 38, were 15 and 12 at the time.
Turner’s death was announced in a post shared on her official Instagram page.
“It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Tina Turner,” the statement said. “With her music and her boundless passion for life, she enchanted millions of fans around the world and inspired the stars of tomorrow.
“Today we say goodbye to a dear friend who leaves us all her greatest work: her music. All our heartfelt compassion goes out to her family. Tina, we will miss you dearly.”
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