Prince Charles and Camilla to Guest Star on Soap Opera

The royal family is delving into pop culture more deeply than ever before next month. Prince Charles and his wife Camilla will reportedly guest star on an episode of the popular British soap opera EastEnders in an episode airing on June 2. This is a huge step for the royal family, who typically avoid celebrity engagements of this kind.

Charles, Prince of Wales is the current heir to the throne, and he is pulling out all the stops to earn some public favor. According to a report by the BBC, he and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall filmed an episode of EastEnders back in March. They have just announced the top-secret project, which is apparently part of Queen Elizabeth II’s “Platinum Jubilee.” The prolonged celebration marks the queen’s 70th year on the throne. At the same time, it seems to foreshadow some changes coming for the royals’ publicity style.

Prince Charles will play fictionalized versions of themselves on EastEnders, where they will be met and greeted by the pub landlords Mick Carter (Danny Dryer) and Linda Carter (Kellie Bright). Of course, the rest of the details on the episode are being jealously guarded to preserve the surprise for fans who watch. Bright spoke to the BBC about this announcement, promising that it will be as historic as it sounds.

“I just thought, ‘wow, they’ve never done anything like this before,’” she marveled. “They didn’t really know what to expect, I mean it must have been nerve-wracking for them and completely out of the norm. So I just hope they enjoyed it as much as we did.” Meanwhile, executive producer Chris Clenshaw said that he believes the cameo worked well with the show’s storyline.

“Linda Carter is naturally in her element and giddy with excitement as their royal highnesses arrive in Walford, but it wasn’t just her, as for all of us EastEnders it was an extremely special day that will go down in EastEnders‘ history,” he said. The soap opera has reportedly already depicted the Platinum Jubilee to some extent, but there’s no doubt that the royals’ cameo will bring even more excitement to the fictional neighborhood.

EastEnders has been airing on the BBC One since 1985, and is one of the most iconic shows in British television. It is about set in a fictional borough of London called Walford, which is described in the East End of the city in Albert Square. It follows the lives of the families who live there, and over the years it has seen some iconic cast members come and go.

For those hoping to see the royal cameo, EastEnders may be hard to find in the U.S. There is one season of the series streaming on Britbox, but other than that there don’t seem to be any straightforward ways to catch the latest episodes. Hopefully, the BBC will find a way to make this special episode available.