SNL UK brings back Princess Diana as King Charles' AI assistant
Saturday Night Live UK opened its Saturday show with King Charles showing off a new AI assistant modelled on Princess Diana.
The cold open, meaning the opening sketch before the titles, introduced the helper as the Deeply Intelligent Autonomous Neurokinetic Android, shortened to Diana, according to Variety. Larry Dean played Charles. Jack Shep reprised his impression of Diana, who appeared in her iconic revenge dress.
The joke was instant. It was built directly around a real royal meeting held two days earlier in Scotland. On 17 September, King Charles hosted a session on AI at Dumfries House to discuss how the technology can be developed in ways that benefit society. He had planned to bring together leaders of major AI companies to talk through a shared set of principles for its use.
During that meeting, Charles warned of the "existential dangers" posed by AI falling into the wrong hands, as reported by Reuters. SNL UK folded that summit straight into the sketch. The script referenced the Thursday gathering in Scotland where the King met tech executives to talk about safety and future rules.
Celeste Dring and new cast member Freddie Meredith played tech executives in the scene. The figures were presented as representatives from Nvidia, Google DeepMind and OpenAI, according to the original report. Dean's Charles demonstrated his new Diana assistant for them, with Shep answering back in character.
The sketch added two wider pop-culture swerves. Annabel Marlow appeared as Ed Sheeran and performed an original song titled "Woah Woah". It also nodded to a claim in Charles Spencer's new memoir alleging that King Charles once said Princess Diana would soon be forgotten. Buckingham Palace has denied that claim in a rare statement, Variety reported.
For viewers who missed the broadcast, the catch-up is simple. Saturday Night Live UK airs on Sky and streams on NOW. The show's official YouTube channel has published the sketch as "Charles and D.I.A.N.A. | SNL UK". The clip is listed under the shorter title "Charles and D.I.A.N.A."
What makes this stand out is the speed of the turnaround. The palace talks were Thursday. The parody aired Saturday. A formal discussion about principles and safety became a prime-time sketch about memory, fame and who gets to control a likeness.
