American Idol fans got a royal surprise Sunday when King Charles and Queen Camilla took a break from coronation festivities to drop by the set.
The royal couple appeared on the show’s live stream, visiting judges Lionel Richie and Katy Perry, shortly after the two acclaimed singers performed at the coronation concert.
Richie appeared to be in on the plot, telling the audience, “What a party, it was unbelievable. We’re trying to figure out what can we do to bring something different to the show, so I have a surprise.”
But Perry appeared shocked when the King and Queen wandered into the shot, with the King joking: “I just wanted to check how long you’ll be using this room for.” He then thanked the two music stars, saying, “Thank you so much for your brilliant performance, it’s a pleasure to have you both here. It’s a great treat to have you both here.” The Queen said of their performance: “Fantastic, absolutely fantastic.”
But if Perry and the audience were surprised by the royal visitation, perhaps they shouldn’t have been. The monarchy in the UK is often seen as a political appointment, with the King or Queen serving as the official head of state, but the Royal Family is also one of the world’s most successful licensing brands.
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In fact, according to a 2017 report from Brand Finance, the British monarchy’s brand value, which includes its actual assets plus intangible impacts on the economy, was valued at £67.5 billion that year, or roughly $91 billion USD. That would rank the Royal Family as one of the world’s top brands, not far behind Google, Apple and Amazon.
And while many republicans in the UK and throughout the Commonwealth oppose the continuation of the monarchy, not to mention the money spent to keep it operating, there’s no doubt that the institution is a net benefit to the British economy. The Brand Finance report says the average annual cost for U.K. taxpayers to keep the royals in palaces and jewelry comes in at around £500 million a year, but brings in an estimated £2.5 billion to the British economy.
When you look at the monarchy from a financial perspective, you can see why the Royal Family refers to itself as “The Firm.” In addition to the monarchy’s power as a tourism draw, the royal family also licenses its name for a vast array of products, which are known as ‘warrant holders’.
In her long reign as Queen, Elizabeth II granted 686 royal warrants, Prince Philip granted 38 warrants, and during his tenure as the Prince of Wales, Charles granted 159 warrants. It would be fair to say the British monarchy puts the ‘royal’ in ‘royalties’.
The appearance of the King and Queen was said to have been a spontaneous decision, but it may well also have been a savvy one, lending the Royals’ star power to American Idol, but also gaining massive exposure for King Charles with the show’s legion of fans.
As well, King Charles has a longstanding and friendly relationship with both Richie and Perry. Richie is an ambassador for the Prince’s Trust, while Perry is an ambassador for the British Asian Trust, which was founded by Charles when he was still a prince.
And speaking of star power, an estimated 20,000 guests watched the concert at Windsor Castle, with a peak audience of 12.3 million.