Fairytale of royal wedding singers
THE leader of the gospel choir who sang at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding says she didn’t encounter any racism among Royal Family members.
In an interview earlier this year with Oprah Winfrey, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex claimed a royal had made a racist comment about the colour of their son Archie’s skin.
But Karen Gibson MBE, the founder and conductor of the Kingdom Choir, said the group had been treated with nothing but respect by all the royals when they performed at the Windsor Castle ceremony in 2018.
The singer, whose life changed overnight after the choir’s spinetingling performance of Ben E King’s Stand by Me was watched by a global audience of two billion, said: “We hung out with the royal family that day and I didn’t see any racism.
“There had never been a gospel choir at a royal wedding before and at the time it felt like there had been a cultural shift.
“You had a woman of colour marrying into the royal family. You had a black gospel choir, a black cellist and a black preacher. It felt like this is OK, we can do this now.
“I know a lot of things have happened since then but I choose to look at the positives and when I do look back at the wedding there were lots of positives – it was a beautiful day with a beautiful couple.”
Karen, 58, whose choir performed at COP26 earlier this month, says she really feels for Harry and Meghan. She said: “I do feel they are a power couple who mean to do good in the world.
“I got the chance to meet them before the wedding and they were both lovely – very friendly and down to earth.”
Karen, whose choir’s Christmas single Together Again was released last week, added: “After the wedding, the choir became an overnight sensation. Sony signed us, we recorded an album sang to a sold-out Albert Hall and flew to Australia to sing at the Invictus Games. It’s been a whirlwind and we’ve all been loving it.
“We were given the honour of performing at COP26 in Glasgow Cathedral at the Christian Aid concert. It was a privilege to lend our voices to such an important cause.
“Our single has just been released and the five-track EP version comes out today. It’s been a bit of a fairytale for me and the choir. Music is a magical thing.”
Together Again EP is out today.
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