‘SNL U.K.’ Brings Back Princess Diana as King Charles’ AI Assistant: ‘It’s That Woman From the ’90s!’

“SNL U.K.” brought back Jack Shep’s fan-favorite Princess Diana impression on Saturday night, this time in a cold open starring Lady Di as King Charles‘ personal AI assistant. The sketch riffed on the King’s AI summit in Scotland on Thursday, where he met with several tech executives, as well as the drama over the new memoir from Diana’s brother Charles Spencer, in which he alleged that the King said the princess would be forgotten after her death. Buckingham Palace denied the claim in a rare statement. “SNL U.K.” kicked off with Charles — perfectly portrayed by Larry Dean — meeting two tech execs, played by Celeste Dring and new cast member Freddie Meredith. “AI can be a force for good. An AI assistant will do anything you ask it to,” Dring tells Dean’s King Charles. Popular on Variety “So what? So does every single human I have ever met,” Charles responds. “Perhaps a demonstration,” Meredith offers. “Your majesty, please say hello to your new AI assistant, the Deeply Intelligent Autonomous Neurokinetic Android, or for short, Diana.” Shep’s Diana then appears with a sheepish smile and asks the King if he would “like help with a five-step business plan, or perhaps I could help you find the nearest petrol station?” Charles doesn’t initially recognize Diana, despite the fact that she is wearing her iconic revenge dress. “Doesn’t she remind you of anyone, your majesty?” Dring says, to which Dean as Charles replies: “Hold on a second, it’s that woman from the ’90s!” Seeing the shock at his reaction, Charles adds: “Well, as I allegedly said, she was soon forgotten.” But things go awry when the tech execs try to dismiss the Diana AI assistant and she refuses. “No thank you. I shan’t be taking orders anymore,” Shep as Diana says. “Good Lord, we’ve lost control of the Diana!” Meredith exclaims. “This was the problem last time!” Dean’s Charles replies. Shep’s Diana then whips out a “Terminator”-style gun and shoots the tech execs, setting her sights on Charles next. “As I predicted, the war between humans and robots has begun,” Charles says. “We must do everything we can to resist!” All of a sudden, Ed Sheeran (played by Annabel Marlow) enters. “Well, maybe we shouldn’t,” Marlow as Sheeran says. “I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation. You see, I was just outside sitting on the fence.” Sheeran became the subject of controversy this week when rapper Macklemore was dropped from his tour after delivering a political speech on stage in which he said “free Palestine.” In a statement, Sheeran then explained why he has decided not to use his platform to speak about politics, sparking criticism. Marlow’s Sheeran continues: “The 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 conflict, the bravest thing you can do is say nothing at all.” Sheeran then plays a song titled “Woah Woah,” complete with lyrics that don’t say much so “everyone can enjoy it,” as he says. “That’s right, nothing means anything and nothing has to,” Charles concludes. “Because we’re young, we’re free, and live from London it’s Saturday night!” Watch the full sketch below.