Queen Elizabeth Once Turned Down a Music Icon to Watch ‘Twin Peaks’ – Armessa Movie News

Every once in a while a pop-culture phenomenon will take over the world. In the 1960s that phenomenon was Beatlemania, when the entire world (primarily the female population) was obsessed with the iconic band The Beatles. And in the 1990s there was Twin Peaks, a quirky little show created by David Lynch that had audiences tuning in every week to find out who killed Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee). Both are huge landmarks in pop culture, each with a stunning fanbase, but for Queen Elizabeth there’s one that comes out on top.

Queen Elizabeth Loved ‘Twin Peaks’

Twin Peaks is famously weird, the titular town is filled with many colorful characters from The Log Lady (Catherine Coulson) to Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan). The series follows the residents of the small and eccentric town as they try to solve the murder of teenage prom queen Laura Palmer – But the town is harboring more dark secrets than it seems to originally let on. Complete with a stunning and atmospheric score from the late, great Angelo Badalamenti, Twin Peaks is a masterclass in television. But it is an experimental series, full of many twists and outlandish moments, as is the case with most work that comes from the mind of David Lynch. It wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea, so it may be surprising to learn that Queen Elizabeth was a fan of the series, and not just in a casual way. You would think that the series, in all its unique glory, would put the Queen off, but she was actually such a fan of it that she turned down a performance from the one and only Paul McCartney in favor of catching the newest episode of the hit series.

This memory was told by Angelo Badalamenti in the documentary Secrets From Another Place: Creating Twin Peaks, in which he and many other key people involved with the show came together to share how the series came to be. He also shared it in a 2011 interview with the British publication NME. “Back when Twin Peaks was kicking off around the world, I flew by Concorde to London, to work with Paul McCartney at Abbey Road. He said, ‘Let me tell you a story’.” Badalamenti recalled. “Not long before we met, he’d been asked to perform for the Queen for her birthday celebrations. And when he met her, he started to say, ‘I’m honored to be here tonight your Majesty, and I’m going to play some music for you.’ And the Queen says, ‘I’m sorry, I can’t stay, it’s five to eight and I have to go and watch Twin Peaks!’ In Secrets From Another Place, Badalamenti added with a laugh that Paul “punched me with his right arm and used some choice English words,” after telling him the story.

‘Twin Peaks’ Was a Hit Series That Ended Too Soon

Who would’ve guessed that the Queen was just as dedicated to the slow-burning mystery as the rest of the world? Twin Peaks kept audiences checked in every week like clockwork from its debut in 1990 to the time it aired its premature finale in 1991. The murder of Laura Palmer may have been the factor that first drew audiences’ attention, but it was David Lynch’s distinct vision and Angelo Badalamenti’s perfect score that kept everyone locked in. ABC pushed for a conclusion to the mystery, despite David Lynch and Mark Frost’s original plan to leave it unresolved, which eventually led to the cancellation of the show. In 1992 the prequel film Fire Walk With Me was released, which details the final days of Laura Palmer’s young life and leads brilliantly into the series. The prequel film pleased fans who were eager for more Twin Peaks after its untimely cancellation, and allowed Lynch and Frost to further expand on their vision of the twisty little town.

Much to the delight of fans though, Twin Peaks made its triumphant return in 2017 with Twin Peaks: The Return. The revival brought back many familiar faces, paid tribute to those lost over the years, and even gave a face to Diane (Laura Dern) who we never got to see in the original series. The Return gave fans long-awaited closure… at least, the most closure you can expect from a David Lynch project. And with the knowledge that Queen Elizabeth was a fan of the original series, we have to wonder, did she also tune into The Return?

Twin Peaks is available for streaming exclusively on Prime Video in the U.S.

Watch on Prime Video