In a surprisingly modern and personal move, King Charles has announced a one-off radio show with Apple Music called The King’s Music Room. This comes as the royal family is increasingly embracing social media and digital culture to build a deeper connection with the public.
The show was recorded at his office at Buckingham Palace and will showcase music from across the Commonwealth, including artists such as RAYE, Kylie Minogue and Bob Marley. It will premiere on Commonwealth Day (10 March) and gives audiences a rare glimpse at the king’s music taste. In the official announcement, the king noted the radio show is an “interesting and innovative way” to mark the holiday.
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The monarchy is no stranger to using social media, but the King’s latest move is a delight and the news follows the royals embracing creators and digital formats. In November, Prince William broke protocol when he featured in micro creator Samantha Johnson’s video to explain to her lecturer why she would be late for class. The viral video has 9.1 million views. More recently, the Prince of Wales featured in science creator Big Manny’s video and learned how to dissect DNA from a strawberry. The collaboration went down like a treat with Manny’s audience and the TikTok has had more than six million views.
Are the working royals are taking a page from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s playbook? Arguably, the couple has paved the way for how the monarchy can engage on social. Since Harry and Meghan stepped down as senior royals in January 2020, they have focused on commercial opportunities such as podcasting, a bestselling memoir and fronting the Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan.
@samanthaj0hns0n #princewilliam #royalfamily #ulsteruniversity #university #lecture #late
Back in January, the Duchess of Sussex returned to Instagram with a new account after she deleted all of her socials before marrying Harry in 2018. Her new Instagram has more than 2.3 million followers and helped tease her cosy reality Netflix programme With Love, Meghan, which was released earlier this week.
The monarchy has approach social media with caution – the late Queen Elizabeth II didn’t send her first tweet until 2014. Although the Royal Family’s official Instagram launched in 2014, the Queen didn’t publish her first post until 2019. But now it seems they are pivoting to include social in their wider communications strategy. They are approaching this with creativity and so far, social audiences love it.
@big.manny1 Prince William and I extracted the DNA from a strawberry. I went to NatureMetrics today to find out how they’re extracting environmental DNA from soil, rivers and the air to learn more about the world and help protect nature #science #experiment #chemistry
While The Prince and Princess of Wales and the official Instagram for the Royal Family are used to convey news and share curated content from public events, as well as occasional personal photos, King Charles’ radio show could signal a larger shift is happening. Perhaps the royals aren’t ready to film TikTok trends (Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York became the first royal to join TikTok in late 2024), but they are appearing more personable and contemporary through their social-savvy efforts. The next logical step? A foray into podcasting and more partnerships with creators who align with their views.
By Caroline Edwards, news and features writer for CORQ. Picture credit: The Royal Family via Instagram.
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