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Blackpink got the royal treatment at Buckingham Palace. The mega-successful K-pop quartet were invested with honorary Members of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) by King Charles to honor the group’s support for campaigns highlighting climate change.
The singers received their awards during a private investiture on Wednesday morning at the Palace. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and First Lady Kim Keon Hee were also in attendance.
During a state banquet earlier in the week, King Charles gave the group a special shout out for their work supporting climate change.
“It is especially inspiring to see Korea’s younger generation embrace the cause,” said King Charles. “I applaud Jennie, Jisoo, Lisa, and Rosé, better known collectively as Blackpink, for their role in bringing the message of environmental sustainability to a global audience as Ambassadors for the U.K.’s Presidency of COP 26, and later as advocates for the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals.”
King Charles’ speech also highlighted the reach of Korea’s cultural output, comparing it to that of the United Kingdom’s.
“Korea has matched Danny Boyle with Bong Joon-ho, James Bond with Squid Game and the Beatles’ ‘Let It Be’ with BTS’s ‘Dynamite,’” he said. “Our cultures share a remarkable ability to captivate imaginations across the world, transforming a so-called soft power into a shared superpower.”
To round out the group’s warm welcome to the U.K., a song by the group was played by the military band of the 1st Battalion of Welsh Guards during the changing of the guards. In an Instagram video posted by the Royal Family with the caption “On Wednesdays, we play Blackpink,” the band is seen playing the group’s hit “DDU-DU DDU-D.” (The caption is a play on a quote from Mean Girls.)
