A day after giving a shout out at an official gala at the Buckingham Palace, King Charles III presented BLACKPINK with honorary MBE medals.
Jennie Kim, Jisoo Kim, Lalisa Manoban (Lisa), and Roseanne Park (Rosé) received their MBEs from the British monarch at the private Investiture held at the palace on 22 November. They later posed with their medals for the press.
Also present at the Investiture were South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and First Lady Kim Keon Hee, who were on a state visit to the United Kingdom.
According to the Associated Press, Rosé’s MBE was without the “honorary” qualifier because she has dual citizenship of New Zealand — one of the 14 countries where the British monarch is Head of State. As such her MBE is substantive as a Realm national.
BLACKPINK is also the first non-British music artist to be awarded an honorary MBE.
All about BLACKPINK and why they were honoured with MBEs
Role played as COP26 Advocates
In a statement, Buckingham Palace said that the honour was given to the hugely successful quartet “in recognition of the band’s role as COP26 Advocates for the COP26 Summit in Glasgow 2021.”
The Palace underlined the work done by BLACKPINK following their appointment by the UK Government as COP26 Advocates in January 2021.
“The band encouraged millions of young people to engage with the global UN climate change conference, held in Glasgow, and the topic of climate action,” the statement reads.
The Palace noted that there was “significantly increased engagement with the Summit from a young audience” after the band released a series of videos aimed at encouraging young people to learn more about climate change.
In September 2021, UN Secretary General António Guterres appointed BLACKPINK as global Ambassadors for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDG).
‘On Wednesdays, we play BLACKPINK’
On the day of the Investiture, the Royal band played BLACKPINK’s song “Ddu-Du Ddu-Du” at the gates of the Buckingham Palace. A video of their performance went viral on social media.
On Wednesdays, we play @BLACKPINK. 🖤💗 pic.twitter.com/9PDuAhNn9C
— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) November 22, 2023
In videos and pictures shared by Buckingham Palace, the quartet can be seen taking photographs and chatting with King Charles III as he presented the medals.
“It’s amazing you’re still talking to each other after all these years,” King Charles III jokingly said to the band at the ceremony, according to Reuters. “I hope I shall be able to see you perform live at some point.”
Praise during the official gala
On 21 November, King Charles III mentioned Jennie, Jisoo, Lisa and Rosé by name at an official gala at the palace.
“I applaud Jennie, Jisoo, Lisa and Rosé, better known collectively as BLACKPINK, for their role in bringing the message of environmental sustainability to a global audience as Ambassadors for the UK’s Presidency of COP 26, and later as advocates for the UN Sustainable Development Goals,” he said, as the four members of the group exchanged sweet glances.
(Hero image: The Royal Family/@RoyalFamily/Twitter; Featured Image: Buckingham Palace)
Manas Sen Gupta writes at the intersection of tech, entertainment and history. His works have appeared in publications such as The Statesman, Myanmar Matters, Hindustan Times and News18/ETV. In his spare time, Manas loves studying interactive charts and topographic maps. When not doing either, he prefers reading detective fiction. Spring is his favourite season and he can happily eat a bowl of noodles any time of the day.
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