King Charles III welcomed K-Pop group BLACKPINK back to Buckingham Palace on Wednesday, November 22, to award each member as Honorary Members of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) following their attendance at the state banquet held at the palace on Tuesday.
The Royal Family on its official page on X, formerly Twitter, shared a video of the moment when His Majesty personally handed Jennie Kim, Jisoo Kim, Lisa Manoban and Rosé Park their awards in recognition of their role as Advocates for the COP26 Summit in Glasgow.
They received their awards at a private Investiture on Wednesday morning in the 1844 Room at Buckingham Palace. Afterwards, they posed for photos with King Charles III and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and First Lady Kim Keon He, who were also present at the awarding.
The ladies then posed for photos outside the palace, beaming as they held their medals up to the camera. The MBE is just one of the many medals and honours that the British monarch can award to special individuals on behalf of the government.
"The King, joined by The President and First Lady of the Republic of Korea, has welcomed @BLACKPINK to Buckingham Palace, as they are awarded Honorary MBEs. The K-Pop band have been awarded the honours in recognition of their role as Advocates for the COP26 Summit in Glasgow," reads the caption accompanying the video.
The King, joined by The President and First Lady of the Republic of Korea, has welcomed @BLACKPINK to Buckingham Palace, as they are awarded Honorary MBEs. 🎖️
— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) November 22, 2023
The K-Pop band have been awarded the honours in recognition of their role as Advocates for the COP26 Summit in Glasgow. pic.twitter.com/8xeD4zWP3J
영국 국왕은 윤 대통령과 김 여사가 계신 자리에서 버킹엄 궁전의 특별한 손님인 @BLACKPINK 에게 대영제국 훈장(MBE)을 수여했습니다.
— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) November 22, 2023
블랙핑크는2021년 영국 글래스고에서 열린COP26의 홍보대사로 활동한 공로를 인정받아 이 훈장을 수여받았습니다. pic.twitter.com/MTbVejBl8f
"First appointed to the role by the UK Government in January 2021,@BLACKPINK encouraged millions of young people to engage with the global UN climate change conference and the topic of climate action. Congratulations to Rosé, Jennie, Jisoo and Lisa!" reads another post from The Royal Family.
🌎 First appointed to the role by the UK Government in January 2021, @BLACKPINK encouraged millions of young people to engage with the global UN climate change conference and the topic of climate action.
— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) November 22, 2023
Congratulations to Rosé, Jennie, Jisoo and Lisa! 👏 pic.twitter.com/odjv3oRKxZ
The military band of the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards also paid tribute to visitors from South Korea during the changing of the guard at the palace forecourt when they played BLACKPINK's hit track "DDU-DU DDU-DU".
"On Wednesdays, we play Blackpink," reads the caption of the video showing the band.
On Wednesdays, we play @BLACKPINK. 🖤💗 pic.twitter.com/9PDuAhNn9C
— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) November 22, 2023
BLACKPINK was also invited to Tuesday's banquet at Buckingham Palace held in honour of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and First Lady Kim Keon Hee's state visit to the U.K. Lisa shared photos taken from the banquet on her Instagram page along with the caption: " It has been such a great honour to be part of this special Korean State Banquet at the Buckingham Palace."
In his speech, King Charles III thanked BLACKPINK for their involvement with the COP 26 Summit.
He said: "It is especially inspiring to see Korea's younger generation embrace the cause. 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 U.K.'s Presidency of COP 26, and later as advocates for the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals."
BLACKPINK released a series of videos to educate young people about the issue and it reportedly resulted in significantly increased participation with the Summit from a young audience.
According to People, the K-Pop group has also been appointed by UN Secretary-General António Guterres as global Ambassadors for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Aside from BLACKPINK, King Charles III also gave a shoutout to popular South Korean culture during his speech at the state banquet. He said the country has matched director Danny Boyle with Oscar-winning filmmaker Bong Joon-ho ("Parasite"). He added that the series "Squid Game" has also rivalled the "James Bond" franchise, and that BTS' hit track "Dynamite" has rivalled The Beatles' "Let It Be". The monarch noted: "Our cultures share a remarkable ability to captivate imaginations across the world, transforming a so-called soft power into a shared superpower."
