A Date With Destiny: The Royal Wedding Made Us Famous

Why Life Will Never Be The Same For The Kingdom Choir.

- Lara Kilner​​​​​​​

“Before we were asked to perform for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the choir were still rehearsing in my living room. The biggest audience the current line-up had performed to was 200 people. Until a call came that changed everything.

“A lady who used to be in the choir rang me out of the blue. We exchanged pleasantries, then she said, ‘Well, you must wonder why I’m ringing. You’re going to get a call and I can’t tell you what it’s about, but it’s big.’

“The call didn’t come that day, or the next and in the music industry things fall through all the time, so I thought, ‘Ah well, whatever it is, it’s not going to happen.’ I was on the number 87 bus when my phone rang.

“It turned out my old friend was now friends with the Prince of Wales’ deputy head of communications. He had asked her for recommendations for singers for the wedding, because Prince Charles loves gospel choirs.

“The lady said she was calling from Kensington Palace and would like us to sing at the royal wedding. All I could think to say was, ‘You’re joking, right?’ She went silent and I felt very silly, and said, ‘Okay, you’re not joking at all, are you?’

“I wasn’t allowed to tell a soul, not even my family... I couldn’t even tell the choir. I just rang them and said, ‘Are you free on May 19? If not, you might want to make yourself available. In fact, you might want to Google the date.’ Some of them still didn’t get it, though.

“I was asked for song ideas so I got together some links, and then they said, ‘Actually we’d like these songs instead.’