Seth Rogen and Billy Eichner Recall the ‘Big Moment’ They Saw Beyoncé Meet Prince Harry and Meghan Markle (Exclusive)

We saw it all happening,” Billy Eichner tells PEOPLE of the 2019 ‘Lion King’ premiere that brought Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle together

Seth Rogen and Billy Eichner are recalling a pivotal moment in history: when Beyoncé met Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at the 2019 premiere of The Lion King.

They try to keep the cast as far away from us as possible,” quips Eichner, 46, who voices meerkat Timon in the photorealistic remake and its new prequel Mufasa: The Lion King. Nevertheless, he and Rogen, 42 (who voices warthog Pumbaa), met their costar Beyoncé (who voices lioness Nala) at the movie’s London premiere on July 14, 2019.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were in attendance at the starry event, as Eichner remembers. “That was the first time she met Meghan Markle,” he says of Beyoncé, 43. “And that was a big moment.”

We saw it,” confirms Rogen, who remembers walking the red carpet with Beyoncé and the likes of Elton John, Pharrell Williams, Hans Zimmer and Jon Favreau. The Grammy winner, who wore an asymmetrical shimmery gold gown for the event, was later photographed speaking to Harry, 40 and Meghan, 43. Beyoncé’s husband Jay-Z also chatted with the royal couple.

We saw it all happening,” recalls Eichner, adding, “that’s when Harry and Meghan were still over there” in the U.K. The couple moved to Meghan’s hometown of Los Angeles with son Archie in March 2020 after announcing they were stepping back as senior members of the British royal family under Queen Elizabeth II, breaking with tradition.

“I think that was the night they were like, f— this,” jokes Rogen with a laugh.

“‘Let’s get the f— out,’” quips Eichner. “Centuries of the monarchy died at the hands of the Lion King royal premiere.”

Harry and Meghan have continued to spend the majority of their time in America, raising Archie, 5, and daughter Lilibet, 3. King Charles III, 76, rules the U.K. following the death of his mother Elizabeth II in September 2022 at age 96.

Beyoncé, Rogen and Eichner reprise their voiceover roles from that fateful remake in Mufasa: The Lion King, in theaters now. Directed by Barry Jenkins and written by Jeff Nathanson with original songs from Lin-Manuel Miranda, it stars Aaron Pierre as Mufasa and Kelvin Harrison Jr. as Taka a.k.a. Scar, plus the voices of Blue Ivy Carter, John Kani, Tiffany Boone, Anika Noni Rose, Mads Mikkelsen and more.