BLACKPINK receive honorary MBEs from King Charles

K-pop girl group BLACKPINK have been presented with honorary Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) medals by King Charles.

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BLACKPINK – comprised of Jennie, Jisoo, Lisa and Rosé – were awarded the medals on November 22, during a state visit to the United Kingdom by South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol. The girl group received the MBEs “in recognition of their role as Advocates for the COP26 Summit in Glasgow”, Buckingham Palace said.

“It’s amazing you’re still talking to each other after all these years,” King Charles jokingly said to the band at the ceremony, per Reuters. “I hope I shall be able to see you perform live at some point.”

🌎 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! 👏 pic.twitter.com/odjv3oRKxZ

— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) November 22, 2023

King Charles had also mentioned BLACKPINK during a state banquet at Buckingham Palace, held on November 21. “It is especially inspiring to see Korea’s younger generation embrace the cause,” King Charles said, per PEOPLE.

“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 COP26, and later as advocates for the UN Sustainable Development Goals,” he added.

During his speech, King Charles also spoke about Korea’s growing influence on pop culture. “Korea has matched Danny Boyle with Bong Joon-ho, James Bond with Squid Game and The Beatles‘ ‘Let It Be’ with BTS’s ‘Dynamite’,” he said. “Our cultures share a remarkable ability to captivate imaginations across the world, transforming a so-called soft power into a shared superpower.”

On the same day, during the changing of the guard outside of Buckingham Palace, the military band played two K-pop songs to honour their South Korean guests. They include BLACKPINK’s ‘Ddu-Du Ddu-Du’ and Psy‘s viral 2012 hit ‘Gangnam Style’.

In other BLACKPINK news, the girl group are teaming up with Meta to launch their first-ever virtual concert. ‘BLACKPINK: A VR Encore’, which launches on December 26, will be a recreation of the group’s special finale show for their ‘Born Pink’ world tour in Seoul’s Gocheok Sky Dome.