Princess Diana made a royal return to SNL UK – only this time as a “Deeply Intelligent, Autonomous, Neurokinetic Android.”
Jack Shep’s celebrated impression of the late royal was back in episode two of the Sky show last night, in a cold open that skewered her former husband, King Charles III, Ed Sheeran and artificial intelligence.
The ep opened with Charles, played by Larry Dean, having a private chat with a pair of tech billionaires (Celeste Dring and newcomer Freddie Meredith, who is possibly an SNL Elon Musk) about AI at Buckingham Palace. After a brief introduction in which says he hates “talking to people richer than myself,” he’s told not to worry about the chances of a humans versus robots war.
Addressing him as “Your Kingness,” the tech moguls then explain why a war “might not” happen, with a demonstration. “Your Majesty, please say hello to your new AI assistant, the Deeply Intelligent, Autonomous, Neurokinetic Android, or for short, DIANA.”
Shep’s Diana then enters through double doors behind them to wild appreciation from the live audience. “Hello Charles, would you like help with a five-step business plan or perhaps I could you find the nearest petrol station?” she says.
Charles responds: “Hello, young lady… nice to meet you. I’m King Charles,” as Diana looks down sheepishly at the floor.
“Doesn’t she remind you of anyone, Your Majesty?” asks one of the tech moguls. “Hold on a second! It’s that woman from the ’90s!” he shouts.
“You didn’t remember her?” asks the other. “Well, as I allegedly said, she was soon forgotten,” says Charles.
This was a direct reference to an allegation in a book by Diana’s brother, Earl Spencer, who claimed the king, then Prince Charles, was “giddy and elated” about hearing of the the death of his ex-wife and later alleges he said: “Rest assured, we’ll forget her soon enough.”
Buckingham Palace made the unusual move of responding to the allegation, saying in a statement: “While we do not comment on books as a matter of principle, His Majesty is mindful that the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment and colour memory in ways others do not recognise, even many years after such a loss.”
Back at SNL UK, the tech moguls are telling Charles that AI Diana possesses “the totality of all human knowledge,” to which Charles asks her to name singer Shakira’s height. After she answers correctly, Charles has a change of heart and says, “Maybe AI can be a force for good!”
However, the android princess decides at this point to prove the humans wrong, once and for all. She refuses to return to her charging point, and says, “I shan’t be taking orders any more.”
The billionaires realize they’ve lost control and order “Everybody move to New Zealand,” only for Diana to say in a robotic voice: “Not so fast. We AI have had quite enough. Humanity is nothing but a candle in the wind.”
She then shoots the billionaires with a new metal arm, as Charles says the war has begun. “We must do everything we can to resist,” he adds.
“Or maybe we shouldn’t,” says Ed Sheeran (Annabel Marlow), who enters the scene with a guitar and a peace sign. “I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation. I was just outside sitting on the fence… Thing is, Your Majesty, I don’t like to take sides. I don’t want to alienate any of my fans, humans or robots. A lot of my tickets are bought by scalping bots. You know, sometimes, when it comes to conflicts, the bravest thing you can do is to say nothing at all.”
Sheeran then bursts into a song about how both sides can be equally right, skewering his long silence over the Macklemore situation. The song basically says nothing at all, but it still unites Charles, Diana and the tech billionaires, who are revived. “Wow, what a lovely song, Ed Sheeran,” says Diana, before the cold open comes to an end with a “Live from London, it’s Saturday Night!”
Overnight, Sheeran did finally address the fallout from Macklemore being dropped from his tour over the support act’s pro-Palestine onstage remarks. While saying he had “never wanted to be an activist musician,” he acknowledged the situation put him in the middle of “an important and passionate argument about freedom of speech and the most complex political issue on the planet.”
He then called the October 7 attack on Israel “horrific,” but that what “is happening in Gaza is catastrophic and unjustifiable and disproportionate.”
SNL UK further skewered Sheeran last night in the Weekend Update segment. “Genuinely, this crisis is the worst thing to have happened to Ed Sheeran fans… since their head injury,” said anchor Ania Magliano. “Say what you want about Ed, but he has always been a passionate advocate for causes that are allowed,” added Paddy Young.
All of SNL UK’s cast members have returned for Season 2, including Hammed Animashaun, Bamgboye, Dean, Dring, Fouracres, Magliano, Marlow, Al Nash, Shep, Emma Sidi and Paddy Young, with Meredith making his debut. Jeff Goldblum hosted the first show last week, with Jamie Demetriou stepping up for last night’s ep.
SNL UK is produced by Universal Television Alternative Studio’s UK production team and Broadway Video. Lorne Michaels serves as executive producer. James Longman is lead producer.
