King Charles honoured Tina Turner with musical tribute at Buckingham Palace

28 May 2023

King Charles honoured Tina Turner with a music tribute at Buckingham Palace.

King Charles honoured Tina Turner with a music tribute at Buckingham Palace

The newly-crowned monarch, 74, allowed the Band of the Welsh Guards to perform the ‘Queen of Rock ’n’ Roll’’s 1989 hit ‘The Best’ during the changing of the guard in front of the royal residence in London on Friday, according to video footage shared by Forces News.

They were joined by the First Battalion Welsh Guards Corps of Drums during the centuries-old ceremony, where the King’s Guard hands over responsibility for protecting Buckingham and St James’ palaces to the New Guard.

Charles and Tina – whose death aged 83 was announced on 24 May – first met in 1986, when she put on a show at the Prince’s Trust All-Star Rock Concert at London’s Wembley Stadium.

‘The Best’ song has deep meaning to other members of the royal family, with Prince William, 40, telling Apple Fitness+’s ‘Time to Walk’ series his late mum Princess Diana, would play the track for him and his brother, Prince Harry, 38, while she was driving them back to boarding school.

The Prince of Wales, who was 15 when Diana was killed in a August 1997 Paris car crash aged 36, said: “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. We’d even get the policeman in the car: he’d occasionally be singing along as well. “We’d be singing and listening to the music right the way up to the gates at school where they dropped you off.”

He added: “When I listen to it now, it takes me back to those car rides and brings back lots of memories of my mother.”

King Charles was the latest in a huge list of celebrities who have paid tribute to Tina, including Sir Mick Jagger, 79, her old friend Oprah Winfrey, 69, Cher, 77, and 64-year-old Angela Bassett – who played Tina in her ‘What’s Love Got to Do With It’ biopic – while Beyoncé, 41, and Lizzo, 35, have honoured the icon during on-stage performances.