There aren’t many world premieres where you get to meet and chat to actual monarchs. Likewise, there aren’t many world premieres where meetings with those monarchs are interrupted by bona fide rock legends.
But then, there are very few world premieres like the one for “Finding Harmony: A King’s Vision”. King Charles’ environmental documentary launching on Amazon, that took place on Wednesday (28 January) night at Windsor Castle, the still-active palace founded by William the Conqueror almost 1,000 years ago.
As Kate Winslet noted in the opening speech of the night, it was “the first time a film premiere had taken place in a royal residence.” According to Variety.
“It appears we have an archbishop here,” one guest exclaimed to Variety (one of very small handful of press invited) before the screening started as a man played the bagpipes nearby. Indeed, across the room was someone decked out head-to-toe in red Catholic Church robes (actually later confirmed as the Dean of Windsor, Christopher Cocksworth). Archbishop or not, this was no ordinary premiere.
And then there was the actual royalty, King Charles and Queen Camilla, seated at the very front (in slightly plusher chairs).
“The King is not going to say any words, he’s going to come in and sit down,” the audience was politely told before the monarch’s arrival, per Variety. As part of strict royal protocol, we were also informed which doors the King and Queen would be exiting out of afterwards and which doors everyone else should depart from.
As for the setting, it was a significantly grander departure from the U.K.’s standard world premiere location, the Odeon Luxe in Leicester Square. And it no doubt far overshadowed the makeshift cinema put up at the White House recently for Melania Trump’s doc (also with Amazon), although that boasted an equally eclectic list of attendees. There may not have been branded popcorn buckets at the premiere (or any popcorn at all, for that matter according to Variety), but each guest did get a King’s Foundation water bottle on their seat.
Deep within the ancient and sprawling Windsor Castle, lit up majestically for a plethora of blurry outdoor photo opps, the “Finding Harmony” screening took place in the Waterloo Chamber, accessible only after passing numerous displays of medieval armor, canons, muskets and other decorations worthy of he surroundings. Inside the Chamber, glitteringly ornate and boasting several crystal chandeliers, scores of paintings of British royals dating back hundreds of years and dressed in all their regal splendor beamed down from each wall. Impressive they may have looked, but none of them have fronted their own documentary, as per Vareity.
On that note, the film itself, releasing on Prime Video Feb. 6., sees King Charles reflect on more than half a century of environmentalism, his own philosophy when it comes to nature and the founding of The King’s Foundation, which has been putting it into practice for the last 35 years. Of a number of guests speaking on camera about the King’s work, most notable was perhaps Al Gore.
While few would be shocked to hear that “Finding Harmony” contains the sort of puff piece elements often seen in such bio docs, there were moments many might not expect, not least its coverage of the ridicule Charles received in the press when he became an early advocate for organic farming and began highlighting concerns over climate change long before it became a major global debate. There was even space for some laughs, Charles is seen in a chicken coop called Cluckingham Palace. At the end of the film, the royal appears to shed a tear while considering the current state of the planet, according to Variety.