Even the royals agree that Tina Turner was simply “The Best.”
King Charles honored the 83-year-old rock ‘n’ roll legend, who died Tuesday, with a performance of her 1989 hit by the Band of the Welsh Guards outside Buckingham Palace during the changing of the guard on Friday in London.
Video of the surprising tribute was shared in a tweet by Forces News.
The 45-minute ceremony, which is performed daily, involves the King’s Guard handing over responsibility to the New Guard for protection of the Buckingham and St. James’ Palace.
The Welsh Guards were accompanied by the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards Corps of Drums.
Turner’s song, which peaked at No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, has meaning for Prince William, Charles’ eldest son.
In 2021, the Princes of Wales recalled how his mother, Princess Diana, would play music for William and Prince Harry “to kind of while away the anxiety of going back to (boarding) school,” he told Apple’s Time to Walk podcast.
“And one of the songs I massively remember and has stuck with me all this time, and I still, to this day, still quite enjoy secretly, is Tina Turner’s ‘The Best’ because sitting in the backseat, singing away, it felt like a real family moment. And my mother, she’d be driving along, singing at the top of her voice. … And when I listen to it now, it takes me back to those car rides and brings back lots of memories of my mother.”
Turner, a two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee known as the Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll, was honored on Friday by Jazmin Grace Grimaldi, granddaughter of Princess Grace of Monaco and daughter of Prince Albert.
Grimaldi, a singer and actress who’s been seen in the movie “Cicada” and on TV’s “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” shared video to her verified Instagram account of herself singing “Proud Mary” aboard a yacht on the first night of the F1 Monaco Grand Prix weekend.
“A fun, super spontaneous impromptu performance in honor of the legend herself,” she wrote, tagging former motorsport team owner and Formula One analyst Eddie Jordan and musician Luca London.
Turner died at her home in Switzerland after years of health setbacks, including a stroke in 2013, intestinal cancer in 2016 and a kidney transplant in 2017.
“It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Tina Turner,” a statement posted on Turner’s official social media accounts read. “We say goodbye to a dear friend who leaves us all her greatest work: her music.”
Contributing: Melissa Ruggieri, USA TODAY
