London's Pearly Kings and Queens are Britain's other royals

DW (English)

Known for their pearl-covered suits, the Pearlies are an iconic London cockney tradition.

Transcript

00:00Meet London's other royal family.

00:07Steeped in tradition, instantly recognisable, they're the pearly kings and queens.

00:14This is their biggest day of the year.

00:16The Harvest Festival is a chance to belt out some old London classics and showcase generations

00:22of pearly culture.

00:27There are people who don't even realise the pearlies still exist and then they find a

00:30whole clutter of us here and they're absolutely over the moon at realising it.

00:34The pearlies are icons of working class London, first donning the elaborate suits in the 19th

00:40century to raise money for the poor.

00:43Pearlies today still dedicate themselves to collecting for local charities, attracting

00:48attention and donations with their custom mother of pearl designs.

00:53The pearlies each represent areas of London and, like the real royal family, titles can

00:59be inherited.

01:00It's been a family tradition.

01:01Like Sue and her granddaughter Emily, who's a fifth generation pearly.

01:06This is a picture of my grandma and she's wearing the jacket that I've got on today.

01:11Others with a long record of charity work, like Clive, have been invited to join.

01:16He now champions pearly culture, like the old London dialect Cockney rhyming slang.

01:22People say it's a secret language, you know, a slang secret language, to mystify the police

01:27if they was around after you, but there's a lot of stories.

01:30It's just a fun language.

01:31On the cane and able, which is a table, you'll plainly see a couple of Jack the Rippers,

01:35which are kippers, and a couple of Rosie Lee, which is tea.

01:38And, of course, playing the spoons.

01:48Back at the Harvest Festival, the pearlies are racking up more donations, as they mark

01:54another successful year of fundraising around London.

01:58The best thing to see is that there are young people who are getting dressed up and continuing

02:04with the tradition, because otherwise all of these old customs and the songs and everything

02:10we've heard today are going to disappear, and that would just be such a shame.

02:18Pearly numbers have dwindled.

02:19There were once hundreds across London.

02:22Now it's dozens.

02:23It's part of my heritage as a London boy, a Cockney boy, if you like.

02:29It's sort of like iconic as a London bus, a London taxi, the London police officer,

02:34the pearly kings and queens, you know.

02:37And that's the heritage that we've got to maintain, otherwise we're going to lose it.

02:44The future of the pearlies rests with the younger members, like new recruit Evie, who's

02:49starting a two-year apprenticeship to become a queen.

02:54She's documenting her training on social media, hoping to bring the pearlies to a new audience.

03:01It would be absolutely heartbroken if the pearlies just kind of became extinct, really.

03:06I think the pearlies will carry on going as they are, but there is a bit of modernisation,

03:10you know, the Instagram and social media and stuff, but it still stays true to the

03:14culture and the roots and traditions.

03:24The pearlies are guardians of a cherished cultural legacy, a legacy they're determined

03:29to preserve.

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