The Kingdom Choir

London’s royal wedding choir brings it’s gospel to Berklee

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On May 19, 2018, 600 guests gathered inside St George’s Chapel in Windsor, a town 22 miles west of London, to attend the wedding ceremony of Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and African American actress Meghan Markle. Right before the royal pair exchanged vows, a gospel choir mostly composed of Black Brits, sang a beautiful, simple and soulful rendition of Ben E. King’s “Stand By Me” in front of a predominantly white, aristocratic audience. The choir was The Kingdom Choir directed by the award-winning Karen Gibson, MBE (Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire). Twenty-nine million Americans tuned in to watch the stirring performance along with 24 million British residents.

The Kingdom Choir sang at the wedding
of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. PHOTO: WIKIPEDIA

Gibson, who founded the choir in 1993, spoke to the Banner over Zoom. Gibson, who achieved international acclaim after the Sussex wedding, is a warm, funny and captivating storyteller even with her camera off. She apologized in her polite English manner, admitting she had just come from the gym and was feeling camera shy.

BANNER: Let’s start with the royal wedding. How did you find out your choir was selected to sing at the royal wedding?

GIBSON: Well, an old member of the choir put us in touch with Prince Charles’s deputy head of communication. She was the one who gave me a call while I was on the bus one day. She said, “We’d like to invite you to sing at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.” She was a very posh Nigerian lady.

My response, which I’m not proud of, was, “You’re joking, right?” I just blurted it out. I couldn’t believe it. And she didn’t say anything. She was dead silent and that’s when I knew she wasn’t joking at all. And from there I was introduced to the wedding planner.

“Stand By Me” was our arrangement, specifically a former member of the choir, Mark Delisser. The wedding planner asked us for it to be stripped down and pared back with less beat, which I didn’t understand because every song has a beat. We went through 11 versions of the song and none of the versions were working.

The 12th version was the one that was successful, but everybody heard that version together. We didn’t even have time to send it in before we sung it at the palace on the day of the wedding.

I’m happy it worked out. How was the experience for you and members of the choir? How did it feel to sing Black, gospel music in such a historic royal chapel?

It was an amazing time. Of course, we knew that eyes would be on us. We’re actually not the first gospel choir to sing at a royal wedding, I think it was a Swedish choir, a white gospel choir. But it was history being made and we understood that. We knew we were going to have to turn up and represent.

I feel that did something for the Black community here. They really felt represented and seen. I remember after the wedding, I sat on the bus and this little Black lady recognized me and got so excited. She came and sat next to me and she said, “Girl, we made it.” I don’t know what we made it to, but it was significant.

You were appointed MBE in 2020. What was that day like for you?

It was an amazing day, you know, getting made up, getting dressed up and going to make the journey to the palace, which is outside of London; not knowing which member of the royal family you’re going to meet that presents the medal. It was beautiful and really exciting and a great honor to receive recognition from the queen for services to music.

Switching gears to your North American tour and specifically the Boston show, what do you hope the audience gets from your performance?

I hope they get a sense of connection. I hope they feel invited to the family of communion. I hope they feel free to join in, to enjoy, to release and watch in whatever way that might look like. I’m hoping for healing, hope, joy and inspiration. Most of all I hope that they feel the words really have meaning.

One of my friends came to a tour show and she said people came in one way, cold, reserved and to themselves. By the time they left they were singing and making conversation and laughing with one another and hugging. I would like to see that for every show.

This interview was edited for length and clarity.

The Kingdom Choir will perform at the Berklee Performance Center on Dec. 15.