Meghan the musical: BBC confirms radio comedy about the Duchess
SHE waved goodbye to the acting world with her final episode of Suits, giving up a showbusiness career to marry into the Royal family.
But if the Duchess of Sussex can no longer star in her own show, the BBC is striving to provide the next best thing: a musical based on the life and times of Meghan Markle, entitled The Sixth In Line to be King and I.
Radio 4’s 15 Minute Musical has turned its sights on the Duchess, with a “Rodgers and Hammerstein-inspired” comedy broadcast confirmed for the Christmas schedule.
It will see radio actors “look ahead to what promises to be an exciting 2019 for the happy royal couple as they expect their first child in the spring”, in what is described as an “inspired celebration of Meghan Markle’s life to date”.
The show has previously broadcast episodes including The Legend of Holy Superior Mother Teresa May and the Magic Money Tree, Jeremy Corbyn Superstar! and Cabarexit, which saw it “turn the EU referendum into a sexy, sassy, sensationalised, sublime-sounding musical”. The story will be told by the programme’s regular cast of Pippa Evans, who will play the Duchess, Dave Lamb and Richie Webb.
Kensington Palace was not consulted on the contents of the musical, one of two Christmas episodes of the show. The second, called Eurostars, features a Eurovision Song Conteststyle performance from “our nonbrexit-obsessed counterparts on the Continent as they look back on their action-packed 2018”. Last year, the BBC Radio Christmas schedule included a special edition of the Today programme, guest edited by Prince Harry.
The Duchess this week signalled the direction her real working life will take next year, in a meeting of leading academics hosted by King’s College London to discuss “how higher education can help build a better world”.
In a private meeting, the Duchess heard from experts about the “role of universities in addressing human trafficking and modern slavery, gender equality and inclusion, peace and reconciliation, and climate change and resilience”, the Association of
Commonwealth Universities (ACU) said. It followed a speech from the Duchess during a royal tour to Fiji, when she announced two ACU grants designed to fund and empower women in education.
The meeting was not announced ahead of time, with the Duchess appearing attentive and with a pen in her hand in pictures taken by David Tett, a photographer invited by the university to photograph the event. The pictures, approved by Kensington Palace, were released on its Instagram page yesterday.
The radio programme about the Duchess’ life is part of a Christmas schedule which also includes an appearance from real royalty.
The Prince of Wales is to share the musical moments that have shaped his life as a guest on Private Passions, on Radio 3.
He will discuss the role of music in his life in the BBC show, due for broadcast on BBC Sounds on Boxing Day and Radio 3 on Dec 30, in which knowledgable guests discuss “their musical loves and hates”.
The Prince is understood to be a fan of the programme. His selection of eight songs includes music performed at his wedding to the Duchess of Cornwall, as well as a work he personally conducted with members of the Philharmonia Orchestra as part of his wife’s 60th birthday.
The Prince also speaks “about formative early childhood experiences of attending the ballet and concerts with his grandmother, the Queen Mother”, as well playing the cello with the Trinity College Orchestra while he was a student at Cambridge.
The special edition of Private Passions was announced as part of a series of box sets, festive podcast specials and seasonal music mixes.
Bob Shennan, director of BBC Radio and Music, said: “For the first time this Christmas and New Year, listeners can indulge in box set specials as well as festive podcasts and music mixes on BBC Sounds.”
Other programmes will see Sir David Attenborough play old sound recordings of people and animals he made during his early career, as well as collections of live music, investigative crime podcasts and archive interviews with “music’s biggest icons”.