When Prince Harry married former actress Megan Markle in St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle on May 19, 2018, all eyes were on the glamorous pair. That is until they turned around and something very unconventional (for a royal wedding) occurred.
As the couple sat watching, viewers around the world were stunned.
But it wasn’t simply because of the beautiful sounds emanating from the back of the church. Rather, no one had imagined that either the Church or the Queen would sanction such a very, well…non-royal occurrence.
And yet it was hard not to smile and sing along when the voices of The Kingdom Choir rang out with a gospel version of Ben E. King’s “Stand By Me.” That’s certainly not an Anglican hymn!
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Needless to say, the Choir got pretty famous after that.
It appears the Duke of Sussex was so pleased with their performance – which went through 11 arrangements before the couple settled on the one that was performed! – that he invited them to give another performance that year.
In October, he invited them to perform at an event very close to his heart.
The Kingdom Choir closed the 2018 Invictus Games, a multi-sport event for wounded, injured, or sick armed services personnel and veterans that was created by Harry himself.
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The games were held in far-away Sydney, Australia that year – a long trip!
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It appears that it’s tough to go a whole flight without exercising those vocals because, on the way there, a British Airlines flight got the in-air performance of a lifetime.
Before that, the passengers looked a little pooped (and we would be too!).
But those on board were thrilled – and, yes, a little confused at first – as a man stood up and began to sing.
Then, as more members stood, it was clear something special was happening.
With voices joining one by one, the group – which was seated all around the plane’s coach section – once again belted out King’s “Stand By Me” – but this time at 35,000 feet.
Choir member Kelisha Tuck told British Airways media:
“It was great fun that our last rehearsal before such a special performance took place on the British Airways flight. We’ve never performed in the air before, so it was a great way to warm up the vocal chords and we hope we entertained our fellow flyers for a few minutes on the very long flight to Sydney!”
Of course, the passengers’ phones came out in full force (in airplane mode, we’re sure) to record the moment.
The airline is an official sponsor of the Invictus Games.
Carolina Martinoli, British Airways’ Director of Brand and Customer Experience, said the performance was planned – they simply couldn’t resist the opportunity once they knew who would be aboard the plane.
And, of course, the airline crew knew it was going to happen.
“We’re so proud to have flown our British heroes out to represent us at the Invictus Games, and when we found out the Kingdom Choir would be following in their footsteps a few days later we decided we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to treat our customers to a really special and intimate performance at 35,000 feet,” Martinoli said.
We have to say those customers looked pretty entertained. And while we don’t know where their stop-over was, it generally takes over 24 hours to get from one end of the trip to the other (a new direct flight was tested in 2019 and took 19 hours).
Needless to say, everyone on board probably needed a little boost.
As you might imagine, millions have delighted in the recording of the performance. The official YouTube video alone has over 4.8 million views.
Be sure to scroll down below and see the special moment for yourself.
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