Trudeau's song in London: an “excessive” reaction, according to Gregory Charles

MISE À DAY

Gregory Charles is “surprised” by the reaction of people who denounce the lack of decorum of the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau who, on the eve of the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, sang in her company in a hotel in London.

Gregory Charles did not need to be asked when he was invited to play the piano after returning from a show he had just attended on Saturday evening, he who was part of the Canadian delegation for the funeral of the queen.

Justin Trudeau approached the piano to push the note with him on the piece Bohemian Rhapsody by the group Queen. The Liberal leader wore a t-shirt, apparently had a drink and sang in front of many people gathered in the hotel, as shown in a video that has gone viral.

< p lang="en" dir="ltr">Trudeau is celebrating his accession as Queen of Canada by drunkenly singing for an audience at the funeral of his predecessor. Classy. pic.twitter.com/kpXTPcQ71f

— Keean Bexte 🇬🇧 (@TheRealKeean) September 19, 2022

While on the set of Salut Bonjour, Tuesday morning, just hours after returning to Montreal, Gregory Charles said he found the reaction of some media and commentators “totally disproportionate”, saying they “[judged] without knowing the context”.

“I give people [the right] to have whatever opinion they want, but I'm amazed because I know what kind of schedule they had. They work, work and work, and at the end of the evening, spend some time with your close guard or your team, I don't find that irregular,” said Gregory Charles in an interview with Gino Chouinard.

“Me, perhaps because my father comes from the West Indies, I don't find it irregular either, in a funeral context, to have a moment of pleasure, a moment when we exchange, a moment when we do music, I can see that the whole world reacted differently.”

Gregory Charles understands “from this reaction” why few people get into politics.

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According to him, Justin Trudeau “sings well”. “I think if he weren't prime minister he would bother to learn the piano or the guitar, I think he's interested.”

A good relationship

About her links with King Charles III, who has just succeeded her mother on the throne in the United Kingdom, their meeting goes back to about 25 years ago when, at the time prince, he had taken part in a tour during which Gregory Charles animated various evenings.

“I won't make you believe I'm chum with King Charles III, but it worked, it clicked. We had a lot of fun and he made all kinds of jokes. Someone had had a mistake about me, he had taken me for someone else, and he had made him laugh, a lot. He went on stage to say: “I know it's hard to tell us apart, but he's Gregory Charles and I'm Prince Charles”. That kind of humor there. So we had a lot of fun there, and every time he came back, he managed to contact Canadian government officials to ask me to go. Every time he came back, I was there. He met my daughter.”

To attend the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, Gregory Charles had to postpone a show in Sainte-Marie, Beauce.

He notably spent the ceremony alongside Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, a famous singer representing New Zealand.

“We sang side by side throughout this service, which was, I think, from what I understood that the queen represents for the population, something sober, solemn. The people were nice, the protocol equipment was enormous, you had to move around for a good hour, let's say that yesterday was something. But it was a nice “feeling” to be there.”