History can be pretty awesome. Singer-songwriter Lin-Manuel Miranda sort of proved that when he developed, over the first half of the 2010s, a concept what would become the hip hop musical “Hamilton”, about the American Founding Father Alexander Hamilton and his life and place in history. Such was the musical’s popularity that it found a home in all centers of theatre in the US as well as London’s West End, where a recent showing of “Hamilton” for charity was graced with the presence of Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. Fun also ensued regarding the Prince’s ancestor.
As CNN tells it, the Royal Couple attended a charity performance of the West End run of “Hamilton” last Wednesday, August 29, the proceeds of which would go to the Prince and Duke of Sussex’s HIV medical research charity Sentebale, which looks after children and youth patients of the disease in South Africa. While Duchess Meghan was eye-catching during the attendance in her short black dress from Judith & Charles of Canada, which showed off her legs, the real show-stopper came from Prince Harry himself after the musical’s conclusion, where he was introduced by “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda as the multiple-times-great-grandson of King George III, main antagonist of the musical.
Prince Harry, who was seated together with Duchess Meghan and Miranda in the audience during the musical, was all gracious in good humor when he took center stage at the curtain call. He then gave a delightful tease when he sang the first two words of the “Hamilton” Act 1 song 7, “You’ll Be Back” which is sung by his ancestor George III following the British defeat in the American Revolution.” You say…” intoned the Duke of Sussex to the surprised delight of the performers and the audience, though he declined to sing any further.
"You say..."Thank you to the cast and crew of @HamiltonWestEnd for a fantastic performance, raising awareness and funds for @Sentebale's work with children and young people affected by HIV #HamiltonLDN
George III was the King of Great Britain and Ireland, at the time when its 13 Colonies below what is now known as Canada revolted over unfair (unrepresented) taxation and other injustices of the British Parliament during the American Revolution of 1775-1783. His Royal House of Hanover in Britain gave way to the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha through the marriage of Hanoverian Queen Victoria to Prince Albert (SCG). Victoria and Albert’s grandson George V would rename the Royal House to Windsor in 1917. Prince Harry and his brother Prince William are thus directly descended down on from George III.
Prince Harry gave a short speech following the curtain call of the “Hamilton” performers of the evening, expressing his admiration for their dedication on performing on a non air-conditioned stage, and thanking them and the audience for their contribution to charity. Miranda spoke of meeting the Royals: ‘They [Harry and Meghan] said they were huge fans of the show. It’s a huge honor for me.”
Image courtesy of NBC News
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