King Charles Turns DJ Yet Again — This Time With Idris Elba at Palace Garden Party [Watch]
Swapping the crown for headphones, King Charles joined deck spinner Christian St. Louis, eager to get guests shaking more than just hands.
King Charles proved he can still drop a beat at 77 when he hopped behind the turntables with Idris Elba during the Buckingham Palace Garden Party on May 14. Swapping the crown for headphones, he spun back alongside deck spinner Christian St. Louis, eager to get guests shaking more than just hands. The vibe check revived memories of his Manchester Aviva Studios DJ debut in March, where his signature 'granddad' energy had fans joking that the Palace may finally have found its resident hype man.
Charles attended the Royal Garden Party solo to mark the 50th anniversary of The King's Trust youth charity, founded in 1976. There, he swapped the monotonous hour-long greetings for something more upbeat as he approached St. Louis and Elba, who were stationed beside the decks in the pouring rain. St. Louis, who learned DJing through the Trust, helped guide Charles on the equipment while guests danced through the downpour, clutching their umbrellas. Elba watched on amused, later joking that "he [Charles] pressed play, and as a DJ I know that's the hardest part." Watch the video here!
Fondly recalling Charles's short but impactful DJing stint, as per The Independent, Elba continued, "This morning we had an amazing time at the National Youth Music Theatre, and I was telling him [Charles] that like it just took me back to when I first did that and I was laughing about that and he said he was going to DJ today, and he did." When asked whether he thought the monarch had enjoyed the fast-paced electronic music being played, he quipped, "Well, he [Charles] didn't stick around, let's put it that way."
The Royal Garden Party was nothing short of a star-studded spectacle, where names like Helen Mirren, Damian Lewis, Holly Willoughby, Gareth Southgate, and Myleene Klass were in attendance. Mirren, a longtime ambassador for The King's Trust, who also portrayed his mother, Queen Elizabeth, in both The Queen and The Audience, was seen chatting and sharing smiles with the King during the rain-soaked event. Guests relished tea, cakes, sandwiches, and ice cream as Charles greeted them. Earlier that day, he had visited Golders Green to meet victims and first responders of a recent terror attack before heading to the Palace for his duties.
It seems Charles has a thing for shaking it up with Elba and St. Louis, as this is not his first attempt at trying out DJing with them. During a visit to Aviva Studios on March 16, he tackled the DJ equipment under St. Louis's watchful eye for the first time. The young deck spinner later gushed to PEOPLE, "I showed him [Charles] how to put the fade up and stop one track and fade the second one in," noting that the King brought good energy to the deck. He added, "I got genuine energy from him… He seemed like he wanted to be here and was pretty involved with the people who are here."
