What did you do this afternoon? Don’t take this as an insult, but it won’t be as cool as what Ed Sheeran did today (Dec. 7). The 26-year-old “Shape of You” star visited Buckingham Palace to receive an MBE, making him a member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.
Prince Charles did the honors in place of Queen Elizabeth. Sheeran was not named a knight or Sir, so instead of the formalities associated with such a distinction, Sheeran chatted casually with Prince Charles.
“He was asking me if I was still selling lots of records, and I told him I’ve got a concert in New York tomorrow,” Sheeran told the BBC, according to MTV. “He was quite surprised I was flying after this.”
Sheeran added that, on a more personal note, his late grandfather, Bill (who passed in 2013) was a “massive royalist.”
“He had all the commemorative plates and stuff,” Sheeran said, “and he died on this day four years ago, so it’s actually quite a nice full circle thing. I guess he’d be pretty proud.”
Sheeran’s “New York concert” tomorrow (Dec. 8) is the Z100 Jingle Ball at Madison Square Garden.