Move over Queen Elizabeth II, there’s a new royal in town. The 2018 CMT Awards took over Nashville on Wednesday, June 6, and in between handing out awards to Blake Shelton and Jason Aldean and performances by Kelsea Ballerini, Carrie Underwood and the Backstreet Boys, the country music’s finest found time to spoof current events like Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s royal wedding. And, in an unexpected twist, the cheeky bit saw Darius Rucker make a hilarious appearance as the Queen of England.
To kick off the show, the night’s hosts Little Big Town anchored a fake news report covering the Queen, Harry and Wills and more descending on Music City for a post-wedding party. The guys of Florida Georgia Line held their own as the Dukes of Cambridge and Sussex, but it was Rucker as the 92-year-old monarch who really stole the show.
For the May 19 nuptials of her grandson, Her Majesty provided a refreshing pop of color in her lime silk tweed coat and floral-printed frock by her go-to dressmaker Stuart Parvin. Picking up on the violet hues in the dress, milliner Angela Kelly created a matching chartreuse topper adorned with purple feathers and handmade lace, crystal and pearl embellishment. She finished off the vibrant ensemble with a multi-strand pearl necklace, earrings and the Richmond Diamond Brooch from her collection.
In his video cameo, Rucker sits in the back of fancy car decked out in his best version of the Grannysmith apple-hued ensemble. While the bit was pre-taped, Rucker took the gag a step farther when he showed up the award show still sporting the hat, jacket and brooch.
It may not be quite as over-the-top as when South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone showed up at the 2000 Oscars dressed in the ballerina pink Ralph Lauren gown Gwyneth Paltrow wore to accept her Oscar for Shakespeare in Love in 1999 and Jennifer Lopez’s plunging green Versace number from the 2000 Grammys respectively, but it’s still a pretty funny (and unexpected!) ode to the Queen.
