Disney and royalty go so hand in hand, is it any wonder we’re now finding out that King Charles is apparently a closeted House of Mouse fan? It certainly seems that way, anyhoo, given how the Moana-loving monarch decided to treat those attending a royal banquet at Buckingham Palace this week to a unique rendition of a hit song from the beloved 2016 animated movie.
The British Royal Family has been playing host to the Qatari Royal Family this first week of December as part of a Qatar state visit to the U.K. After Kate Middleton made a major comeback to greet them, following Queen Camilla having to pull out due to the lingering effects of her recent bout of pneumonia, the visiting royals were celebrated with a special state banquet at the palace on Tuesday night.
The Amir of the State of Qatar, His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher bin Hamad bin Suhaim Al Thani, are only in town for two days so King Charles went and pulled out all the stops by putting Disney on the soundtrack for the evening.
King Charles unleashes his inner Disney adult when entertaining visiting Royals
It is my solemn duty to tell you that, no, King Charles did not personally sing a Moana song at the State Banquet — I know, I desperately want that to be true, as well. Sadly, the king donning his crown and hopping around Buckingham Palace while singing a spirited a cappella cover of “Shiny” will have to exist in our heads alone.
Instead, a unique rendition of one of composer Lin-Manuel Miranda’s celebrated songs was played by the evening’s musical entertainment, the Hiraeth String Quartet, as composed by the most talented students from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. While the rest of the quartet’s setlist was comprised of classical music by the likes of Vivaldi and Mozart, it also contained a string instrumental rendition of Moana‘s “How Far I’ll Go.”
The king isn’t in a habit of playing Bridgerton-alike covers of Disney songs at official banquets, so this song choice definitely raises eyebrows. That said, we know Charles fell in love with Polynesian culture during his recent royal tour of Australia and Samoa, so it makes sense that Moana would be his favorite Disney film. Tragically, we don’t yet know his thoughts on the just-released sequel or whether he likes the look of the upcoming live-action remake.
This supposition then invariably leads us down an even more compelling logical path: that the king is a fan of Dwayne Johnson in general and could, conceivably, have seen every movie The Rock has ever made. Perhaps His Majesty loves nothing more than spending an evening watching such cinematic gems as The Scorpion King, Black Adam, and Hobbs & Shaw. Johnson would probably throw less shade at him than his Gladiator II premiere pal Paul Mescal, at any rate.
All I’m saying is, expect the king’s annual Christmas Day message this year to be set to the tune of Maui’s “You’re Welcome” rap.
Published: Dec 4, 2024 04:02 pm