The Lion King’s European Premiere Attracts Music Royalty – And Actual Royalty
All of the pictures from London’s Leicester Square
LONDON, ENGLAND – JULY 14: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex (3rd L) and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex (2nd L) meet cast and crew, including Beyonce Knowles-Carter (C) Jay-Z (R) as they attend the European Premiere of Disney’s “The Lion King” at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on July 14, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Niklas Halle’n-WPA Pool/Getty Images)
Fresh from the Royal box at Wimbledon, Meghan Markle joined her husband Prince Harry at the European premiere of Disney’s live-action remake of The Lion King in Leicester Square on Sunday. While film critics have either said the film is a revelatory reimagining of the classic or a “soulless” and “disconcerting” mess, headlines turned to the powerful rendezvous between the Duke and Duchess and Beyoncé and Jay-Z.
The latter couple were reportedly running late and zipped through a little side entrance to make it in time to position themselves for the Royal meet-and-greet. Interestingly, Beyoncé and Markle have never met, but the former did pay homage to the Duchess earlier this year during her acceptance speech at the BRIT Awards.
Markle, in a black Jason Wu dress and Aquazzura heels greeted the singer and rapper and engaged in some light-hearted chat and pleasantries while waiting for her husband. “You’ve been rather busy,” said the Prince to Beyoncé. “Congratulations on the birth of your baby,” Jay-Z replied nodding towards Markle.
“And how are the twins,” asked the Prince, in reference to the star couple’s children, Rumi and Sir, born in 2017. “They are not here. They don’t come on every trip,” replied Beyoncé.
“We left them at home. They would [have] loved to have been here.”
Jay-Z added: “The best advice I can give you, always find some time for yourself.”
Inside the theatre, Markle reportedly embraced Beyoncé a little more warmly and the two women were seen interacting much more organically away from the cameras.
Beyoncé is voicing lioness Nala in the film who navigates the African savanna with future king Simba (voiced by Donald Glover). Other guests in attendance were Sir Elton John, Pharrell, Seth Rogen and Vin Diesel.
LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 14: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex (L) and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex (2nd L) meets cast and crew, including Beyonce Knowles-Carter (C) Jay-Z (R) as they attend the European Premiere of Disney's "The Lion King" at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on July 14, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Niklas Halle'n-WPA Pool/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 14: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex greet Disney CEO Robert Iger US singer-songwriter Beyoncé at the European Premiere of Disney's "The Lion King" at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on July 14, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Niklas Halle'n-WPA Pool/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 14: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex chat with British singer-songwriter Elton John at the European Premiere of Disney's "The Lion King" at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on July 14, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Niklas Halle'n-WPA Pool/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 14: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex greet British singer-songwriter Elton John and David Furnish at the European Premiere of Disney's "The Lion King" at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on July 14, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Niklas Halle'n-WPA Pool/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 14: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex greet US singer Pharrell Williams at the European Premiere of Disney's "The Lion King" at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on July 14, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Niklas Halle'n-WPA Pool/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 14: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex attend "The Lion King" European Premiere at Leicester Square on July 14, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 14: Beyonce Knowles-Carter and Jay-Z attend the European Premiere of Disney's "The Lion King" at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on July 14, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images for Disney)
LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 14: Beyonce Knowles-Carter and Jay-Z attend the European Premiere of Disney's "The Lion King" at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on July 14, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images for Disney)
LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 14: Beyonce Knowles-Carter attends the European Premiere of Disney's "The Lion King" at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on July 14, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images for Disney)
LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 14: Beyonce Knowles-Carter and Sir Elton John attend the European Premiere of Disney's "The Lion King" at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on July 14, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images for Disney)
Elton John and David Furnish attending Disney's The Lion King European Premiere held in Leicester Square, London. (Photo by Ian West/PA Images via Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 14: Pharrell Williams and Helen Lasichanh attend the European Premiere of Disney's "The Lion King" at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on July 14, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images for Disney)
LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 14: Florence Kasumba attends the European Premiere of Disney's "The Lion King" at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on July 14, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images for Disney)
LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 14: Florence Kasumba attends the European Premiere of "The Lion King" at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on July 14, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by David M. Benett/Dave Benett/WireImage)
Seth Rogen and Lauren Miller attending Disney's The Lion King European Premiere held in Leicester Square, London. (Photo by Ian West/PA Images via Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 14: Vin Diesel attends the European Premiere of "The Lion King" at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on July 14, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by David M. Benett/Dave Benett/WireImage)
LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 14: Keegan Michael-Key, Florence Kasumba, Seth Rogen, Elton John, Lebo M, Beyonce, Pharrell Williams, Tim Rice, Billy Eichner, Jon Favreau and Hans Zimmer attend the European Premiere of "The Lion King" at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on July 14, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by David M. Benett/Dave Benett/WireImage)
The Lion King will roar into Australian Cinemas on July 17.
